González is one of three survivors of the 13 people who left Cuba by boat on November 21, trying to reach the United States. His mother, Elizabeth Broton Rodríguez, died at sea. The captain of the 17-foot-long boat lived in Miami. He went to get his girlfriend, her son Elián, and other family members, charging the others $1,000 for the trip to Miami.

Since he was discovered off the Florida coastline, the press and the Cuban rightist organizations in Miami have used the little boy to try to slur Cuba and its socialist revolution.

The Cuban American National Foundation made a poster of the rescued boy that read "Another child victim of Fidel Castro. After 40 years, this is the result of Fidel Castro's failed revolution." They were planning to distribute the poster at the World Trade Organization conference in Seattle, Washington.

González also has been shown on TV surrounded by toys and wealth—he has been on the front page of El Nuevo Herald almost daily since the rescue.

The boy's father, Juan Miguel González, has demanded that his child be returned to him in Cuba. He told the press he "has been kidnapped. Here, he has his health care and education free. He does not lack anything." González works at a hotel in Varadero. His son lived with him five days out of the week. All four of the child's grandparents in Cuba have called for his return.

The Cuban foreign minister, Felipe Pérez Roque, stated in Seattle that the child is "detained by force." "It's repulsive and offensive that they use this case to make propaganda and to try to mix this painful story with political issues," Roque said in an interview he gave during the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle.

The Cuban government accused Washington of promoting illegal immigration by Cubans, saying this tragedy could have been prevented. The Cuban coast guard spotted the overloaded boat and urged them to return. When the boat left Cuban waters, the Cuban authorities notified the U.S. Coast Guard, who failed to locate it.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service made Elián González a U.S. resident. His father will have to sue in the Florida state courts to regain custody and have his son returned to him in Cuba.

Eric Simpson is a member of Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees Local 415. Rollande Girard is a member of the International Association of Machinists Local 1126.  
 
 
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