Elian Gonzales still an issue in Miami

Posted November 23, 2004 by Dana Garrett in Cuba Human Rights

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UPI

Although it’s been five years since U.S. agents stormed a Miami house and sent 5-year-old Elian Gonzalez home to Cuba, he is still a hot topic in Miami.

The house where the boy lived in the city’s Little Havana section is now a museum run by the boy’s great-uncle Delfin Gonzalez, ABC News reported.

Inside, Elian’s toys are displayed in glass cases, and the clothes he wore still hang in his closet.

The boy made international headlines for five months after washing up on Florida shores after a nightmarish journey in which he watched his mother drown. His relatives fought to keep him, but various U.S. courts ruled he belonged with his father in the small Cuban town of Cardenas.

When he was grabbed by agents, Little Havana erupted in riots.

“If we have to do it again, we’ll do it and do it and do it again,” a Cuban-American man in a cafe told the network.

Another area resident said, “I think we won the battle in proving that there is freedom and people have to still believe in that and fight for that.”