By Eliott Rodriguez

Updated on: April 22, 2025 / 7:00 PM EDT / CBS Miami

Twenty-five years after federal agents stormed a Miami home to seize 5-year-old Elian Gonzalez and return him to Cuba, the now 30-year-old industrial engineer and Cuban National Assembly member reflects on his simple life in Cardenas, his mother’s sacrifice and his desire to unite Cubans across the Florida Straits.

A life shaped by tragedy and resilience

The fight over custody of Elian Gonzalez ended on April 22, 2000, when heavily armed federal agents raided the Little Havana home of his Miami family. Elian was seized at gunpoint and returned to his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, who was soon back in Cuba with his 5-year-old son.

Today, Elian still lives in the house where he grew up.

“I grew up with my family. I grew up with those I had to be with and that makes me very happy,” Elian said during a 2023 interview with Liz Oliva Fernandez, an independent Cuban journalist for the U.S.-based media outlet Belly of the Beast.

Elian said during the interview that his life is simple, he is married and has a 4-year-old daughter. Her name is Eliz in honor of his mother Elizabeth, who died at sea during the ill-fated attempt to escape from Cuba.

“My mother was an excellent mother,” Elian said. “She lost her life trying to save me. And looking for a better place to live. She was also a victim of that policy of sanctions against Cuba that makes Cubans want to emigrate.”

From international crisis to national service

Elian was elected to a seat in the Cuban National Assembly. He represents the city of Cardenas. He says he has never regretted returning to Cuba and that he’s led a normal life despite the popularity he gained during the international custody fight that saw protests on the streets of Miami and Cuba.

“Oh, I’ll never forget that day,” said former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz. He was an attorney for Elian’s Miami relatives. Diaz fought court battles to keep the boy in the U.S., facing off against then-Attorney General Janet Reno, whose hometown was Miami. Reno knew the passion Elian’s story ignited in Miami.

“The whole thing became very political.” Diaz said. “It took on a life of its own with the family pitted against each other in a very adversarial way that didn’t have to be.”

Liz Oliva Fernandez, the Cuban journalist who interviewed Elian in 2023, said Elian wants to reunite Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits. You can see the entire interview here at www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com

“I really believe he wants to build bridges between Cuba and the United States,” Oliva Fernandez said. “I believe he wants to find a balance between the two sides.”

Elian added that he wants to make sure no other mother risks her life or the life of a child trying to escape conditions in Cuba like his mother did 25 years ago.

By Eliott Rodriguez

Rome, Apr 19 (Prensa Latina) The National Association of Italy-Cuba Friendship (ANAIC) celebrates today the 64th anniversary of its founding, which occurred hours after the victory at Playa Girón, achieved by the people of that Latin American nation against a U.S. invasion.

A statement from the organization commemorates its creation on this day, April 19, 1961, after hours of fierce fighting led by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, annihilated the attempted landing of a brigade of mercenaries serving US imperialism.

“Thousands of people around the world took to the streets to protest against this US-orchestrated operation, as well as to express their solidarity with the Cuban Revolution,” and “in major Italian cities, many comrades flooded the avenues and squares in solidarity with Cuba,” the document recalls.

These actions provided the impetus for the formation of the first Anaic groups, “which today is rooted throughout the country with 77 groups and thousands of activists who, daily and tirelessly, sacrificing their free time and often their families,” support the Cuban people in the defense of their revolutionary process.

“After 64 years of continuous existence, we want to thank our activists and comrades for the work they do daily, and all the citizens who support us” in numerous actions, including denunciations of the criminal economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed on Cuba by the U.S. government, they expressed.

“We wish to remember the presidents who left us, Arnaldo Cambiaghi and Roberto Foresti,” and “we would like to thank Irma Dioli and Sergio Marinoni for the extraordinary work they did during their presidency,” reads the statement from the organization, currently headed by Marco Papacci.

“For our part, our commitment remains to continue raising awareness of the reality of the Cuban Revolution, supporting and defending it,” Anaic emphasizes, reaffirming in the final part of that note that “Long live solidarity among peoples!”, “With socialist Cuba, always until victory!”, and “Homeland or death, we will win!”

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Matanzas, Cuba, April 19 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called on his country’s youth today to safeguard the Revolution against the constant aggression of the United States, 64 years after the victory at Playa Girón.

In a conversation with more than 100 young people at the scene of the defeat of the Washington-sponsored mercenary invasion in 1961, he reflected on the historical legacy of that feat and the relevance of its significance.

All the answers are in our history, the president affirmed, adding that Girón reaffirmed the value of unity and the idea of ​​not renouncing independence, sovereignty, and self-determination.

The meeting gained special poignancy with the testimony of Nemesia Rodríguez, a survivor of the bombings prior to the mercenary landing, who shared with the young people her experiences as a child during those crucial days, reported the Cuban News Agency.

The young participants, from western provinces, emphasized the importance of experiencing history in the places where it occurred and proposed extending this type of event to the entire country.

Cuba’s history is heroic, and we are feeling it alongside them in every setting, the president wrote on his X account, while reporting on the meeting.

On the sands of Playa Girón, where the empire tried to sink its claws and found a people ready to defend their Revolution, we met with more than a hundred young people, he noted in his message.

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