He was an innocent little boy in the middle of a bloody custody battle. I wonder what's become of him, these days?

i live in florida and i remember this dumb shit going down. i was like who cares? he's back in cuba with his father where he belongs. he's like a celebrity over there now

This is a travesty and a stain on the Clinton Administration. I cannot imagine the thought processes of Janet Reno who authorized the raid that would do justice to the Gestapo or the Soviet Secret Police when the child was ripped out of his relatives' arms and sent back to the Cuban Gulag to be united with a father with whom he had never lived and had never contributed any type of child support. The only contribution that the father made was the physical act of generation. How long did that take?

I remember hearing about this kid. The news wouldn't drop the story for days.

Way I heard it he lives the good life in Cuba now so Castro can use him as a propaganda tool.

He's at home now, what's the problem ?

"Elian and Juan Miguel Gonzalez, son and father. The former is an innocent child, the latter a man whose boy was taken from him. Elian has behaved like a typical 6-year-old, Juan Miguel like a typical father. And most of the politicians like typical fools." Richard Cohen in the Washington Post.

haha! what a pathetic loser

Oh, dear. He shouldn't have been "sent" to Florida? Okay. Where to begin? He came to America, on an overloaded, underpowered refugee boat, with his mother, in an attempt to escape from Cuba. (I wonder why she would risk her life with twenty-some others to come to America with her son). Everyone on the boat died in a futile effort to land in the US and escape the abject repression of Cuba and its communist dictator, Fidel Castro. (Here, I'd refer you to check with one of the thousands of Cuban refugees who have risked their lives to come to America, why they came here, not that it's likely you'll do any research). The boat never made it to Miami. All souls were lost but one.

Elian was the only survivor, although uncles, aunts, cousins and friends welcomed him with open arms and homes once he was released from the hospital. They wanted to carry out his mother's wish, the one she died for, seeing her son grow up in America. But then the federal government, with more communist (and Castro) sympathizers than the FDR's cabinet could boast about, intervened, and little Elian became an unwitting pawn in a game of geo-political gamesmanship. Janet Reno, with the full support and endorsement of her "boss" Bill Clinton, sent commandos in the middle of the night, into the home of an American citizen, semi-automatic guns drawn, and snatched (kidnapped) the young boy from his American family, and ultimately returned him to Cuba, at the demand of fidel Castro. Go ahead, look it up.

Tell me again about the protections all Americans enjoy, against unlawful search and seizure, embedded in the US Constitution, and how precious those protections are to democrats. Tell me again how much you hate guns (except, apparently, in the hands of government thugs). Tell me again that democrats hate America's enemies and are willing and able to protect the rights and safety of American citizens.

There is none so blind as he who refuses to see.

I think it was 20/20 who did a follow up on this story. Elian is very happy in Cuba, he lives with his father, his father is a waiter at a fine restaurant. Elian refused to talk to the reporter, he's just a happy normal kid. He never should have been sent to Florida.

. . .I thought it was strange how a nation that clearly has serious issues raising kids (weight problems, divorce, public education that is nothing short of laughable when compared to many first-world nations, et.al.) became so obsessed with someone else's kid. . .oh, how we love to project. ..

One of the dumbest media distractions ever.The poor kid obviously should have been sent right back to his father- the mother who took him away and endangered his life must have been nuts.How would YOU feel if your deranged spouse kidnapped YOUR kid,almost got him or her killed,and some other country tried to say that he or she might be better off not growing up in the USA,regardless of how YOU felt ?

This poor kid was manipulated by everyone for political purposes. Janet Reno--one of the most inept AGs in U.S. history--really f**ked up handling this one. The image of a terrified Elian being literally ripped out of the arms of a relative at gunpoint by some FBI goon is an image that will forever endure as part of Reno's legacy...

Again, I'm not exactly sure what were rating here. I put Elian at a 1 because if he were Mexican we would never have known his name. It was a horrible situation and a little boy that just lost his mother needed to be with his father. What some people didn't seem to realize is he would not be going back to Cuba to live in poverty and chase metal rims down the street. His father is one of the wealthier men in Cuba.

I can't blame him for the notoriety. It's the people who made him a political pawn that caused all the ruckus..

lets just hope he grows up to be a fine young man and all the craziness and loss hes had to suffer will not affect him

This story was the biggest waste of time in the world i can not believe this horrible horrible story got so much credit.

Poor kid. He didn't deserve all of that crap.

I think this case got way too much press. I really felt for this cute little boy who went through the tragedy of losing his mother in a horrific way. Our country should have given Elian back to his dad right away. Just because some people decide that he is better off living in our land of the free country.He is forced into all this fight between his distant relatives who live in the USA, and his own father. I am glad this little boy is back with his daddy as he should have been.

The prime example of the Rightwingers' Much Ado About Nothing political modus operandi. To begin with, irrespective of his father's political ideology, which, by the way, was totally in keeping with the realities of Cuba, this boy belonged with his most direct living relative, wherever that relative happened to live. Secondly, those American relatives of his were total scumbag bottomfeeders of society who were marginally employed, crazed and delusional, overdramatic, alcoholic and pretty damn shady: for the child to live in that kind of environment would be a grave disservice to him. Thirdly, the child was in this country illegally and to waive that reality for the sake of Cuban immigrant sorehead Johnny One Notes and rightwing Cold War fossils is totally wrongheaded and a mockery of the rule of law. Fourth, Elian's adventure was hardly a "flight to freedom" in that it appears he was abducted by his mother, who put the child at risk on the high seas, and the mother's boyfriend, who it turned out was a profiteer in the business of smuggling human cargo. Fifth, the media attention on this was truly nauseating: you'd think the propaganda mill known as The Mainstream Media would spend some time and effort covering stories of real importance rather than this manufactured, inconsequential piece of crap. Sixth, Janet Reno was needlessly and unfairly taken to task for merely exercising the responsibilities of her office, for insisting that the Justic Department solve this instance of illegal immigration: it was the mutant lowlife American relatives of this poor boy who would not comply with the law and refused to cooperate with authorities, resulting in the unnecessary, heightened level of confrontation that ensued. Seventh, it was really pukesome that all these rightwing a**holes tried to make a point of the great superiority of our country over Cuba by attempting to bribe this impressionable child with trips to Disneyworld and other materialist, consumerist nonsense. Interesting to note that like the whores associated with Bubba Clinton, once Elian no longer suited a political use, he was dropped by the rightwing like a stone. See how much he's mentioned these days by the GOP and the idiotic droolers on radio talkshow programs? Isn't it remarkable this story had such enduring legs that the American relatives got book deals and movie deals about their compelling tale? What a sick joke, again perpetrated by the drooler leadership!!!

Thank god this is over! This should have stayed a private family matter but instead it was blown way out of proportion.

Treat him like the rest of the immigrants and send him home. really know, all you democratic pot smoking hippies now if he was a fat ugly 35 year old chick with herpes then you would be like, send him away. But naw, some cute kid washes up on the beach and everyone gotta make an exception and let him stay. We can't be bendin' national policy for this kid. SUBMIT

Poor kid, dragged into too much politics and media coverage. He was definately caught up in too many situations where he had no control, and at his age, what was he to do? I can't imagine what kind of therapy that poor kid's going to need when he grows up!

I feel for the trauma that he had to endure during/after his boat crashed, but why put so much controversy into it? Do you know how many people come to this country illegally? For that matter, do you know how many of them we catch as they get here? Why make his a national story and not all of the others? I'm glad they sent him back to Cuba, even though he would be oppressed there. He is back with his closest surviving relative, whom we are all sure loves him unconditionally.

Jeez, let the kid alone. He never asked for the spotlight.

thank god this little brat is back in Cuba with his father where he belongs. one potential future republican and the whole state of florida gets all their panties in a bunch. when it was a group of haitians, those same republican cuban jerks were all too quick to shove them back on boats to their island. double standards abound!

At least here's one illegal immigration thwarted. Too bad there isn't that much interest and press coverage on all of them.

The one star has nothing to do with the kid himself. What I hated was the people who kept trying to keep him away from his father. He had already lost his mother, and those stupid people wouldn't let him go back to his father. And we had to hear it 24 hours a day for weeks on end.

This kid should be where he is, back with his father in Cuba! We have enough illegal aliens and immigrants on welfare here in this country!!

A boy saved by dolphins will bring down Castro. That's what priest told Castro years ago. Castro's got hell to pay.

Nothing against the kid, but this whole situation was terrible. America and Cuba waging a war of words over a little boy like that. Horribly blow out of proportion by the media. I'm just glad (for Elian's sake) it's all over now.

Elian was a worthless contreversy. he shouldve stayed in cuba. like daddy. this was a useless allocation of money and time finding out what to do. let the commies stay in their own countrys'.

Come on. It's not the kid's fault. He was forced to go with his mother who was attempting to escape. He witnessed her die and then was unwillingly in the 2nd biggest controversy of 2000 (behind the election fiasco). I feel sorry for the kid, who was only 6 years old at the time.

The story of little Elian Gonzalez was one which could only be featured in an intense paperback novel. The child survived all the odds to make it to this country. He really should have perished at sea; the only reason why he survived was because a pack of dolphins came to his rescue to prop him afloat until help came. We really do not know what became of him because Castro's government pretty much picks out what they want the world to see of Elian. The truth of the matter is that he is not living the life of an average child. He is literally a prisoner at his own home in Cardenas, Cuba. As much as I would have liked the child to have stayed in the U.S., the decision legally ultimately laid with his father as to whether to stay or not. Obviously, his father chose to take him back to Cuba. The only thing I did not approve of in this whole situation was the way Janet Reno used guerilla tactics to get the kid out of the house. C'mon, that was not necessary. Those protestors would not have lynched the Immigration agents or none of that. He was just a 6 year old boy. Wherever you come down on this story; we can all agree that this kid probably has some great things for his future, considering the odds he survived.

I’m sure after his experience here in the land of the free he was more than ecstatic to get back to the peace and sanity of a communist dictatorship. Poor kid, the lefty liberals had to make sure they scarred him for life before he left the country. He gets a 5 for surviving, everyone else gets a 1 for their actions and stupidity

I felt as much compassion for this sweet little boy as I eventually felt disgust for his clinging U.S. relatives. How pathetic that they appeared to be so willing to use him as the pawn in such a shabby little political/emotional game. I sympathize with their strong feelings against oppression but they still had no right to keep Elian and his only living parent apart. Knowing the trauma this child had been through should have been enough to keep them from allowing this situation to escalate until it became a national political hotbed and media circus. I give him 5 stars because I think he is the most innocent of this group so far. He neither sought or cashed in on his 15 minutes. He was just the victim of angry, self-centered adults on both sides of the fence who quickly appeared to forget he was even involved.

Elian was avictim of the left-wing racist Clinton-Gore era.Janet Reno is a bigger lowlife than hitler.

The Americans were so stupid to try and take Elian away from his father. If the American foster care system's main goal is to return children to their parents, then why were they trying to take Elian from his. And all the puppies and trips to disney world were turning the poor kid into a spoiled brat. I feel for what he went through, but the publicity circus was absurd.

I don't care too much for ideas about destiny or God's will, but it's remarkable that the fisherman that saved Elian said there were dolphins swimming around him as though to keep him afloat. Months later, political controversy erupted with Janet Reno ultimately leading a Gestapo raid and spreading misinformation about the Cuban American community in Miami. And this ultimately helped solidify Cuban opposition to the Democrats, which of course helped Bush maintain his fragile margin in Florida. All this is to say that Elian was the vehicile by which dolphins ensured they wouldn't have to witness an Al Gore presidency. Viva dolphins!!

He is just a kid, so I can't give him a bad rating. If I was just rating him, I would give him a 5..however, I am also rating the circus that revolved around him..which I rate a 1 ..therefore the 3. I was appalled by the media coverage, supporters and demestrators. To me, it was simple common sense: The child's mother died, his father is alive..duh, he belongs with his living parent! This has nothing to do with government, nothing to do with democracy or where people think Elian would have a brighter future..The child belongs with his father..duh! Even after he returned to Cuba with his family, the circus continues..get over it, none of it should have happened to begin with. I will say it again, he is where he belongs, with his family.

I'd choose to rate Elian a 5 because he's the epitome of "oddball" celebrity. Like himself there are probably thousands of young children who fled Cuba yet are carrying out nothing but normal lives. Elian, however, having been caught in between the emotional community, fame hungry relatives, and a very clever Fidel Castro, suddenly has become a "celebrity" without having anything out of the ordinary to claim for himself.

I think the Elian plot was way too overdramatic and played out. If Elian's family had snuck into this country successfully, they would have been living the high life of "illegal aliens" today. But because of the boat crash and the fact that they were caught, we get to hear a sentimental story of how a young boy is torn between his family in two different countries, one free and one oppressed. Very "movie of the week-ish" plot, right? The fact is, his dad was the surviving parent so unless there was reason not to have him remain with his closest biological relative, then he is in the right place now. He may be oppressed in Cuba, but how is that any different than living illegally in this country, always having to watch your back and risk deportment and more severe punsihment down the road if and when you are caught. I mean, sure I feel sorry for the boy, but the U.S. should concentrate on saving the kids in this country before we try to rescue any Cubans.