Chess Piece: The Elián González Story
by My Cultura and iHeartPodcasts · 12 episodes
SocietyCultureDocumentary
At the turn of the millennium, a five-year-old boy from Cuba found off the Florida coast on Thanksgiving became the most talked about child in America. Elián González had left Cuba with his mom and a dozen other migrants, trying to make it to the U.S. but on the way, the boat capsized. Elián’s mother drowned. Before she did, she tied her child to an inner tube, saving his life. Relatives in Miami — Cuban exiles — took the boy in. His father in Cuba wanted him back. The ensuing international custody battle over Elián González became i...
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Through Each Other’s Eyes
In the final episode this season, Peniley reflects on the throughline of the Elián story: family separation. In an extended interview with Cuban American historian Ada Ferrer, we s…
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"Crazy Cubans"
After taking you through the Elián González story, we’re sharing some reporting and interview content that didn’t make it into our narrative series. This week, Peniley and producer…
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Being Home
Peniley tells us the story of Elián after he returned to Cuba, where he studied engineering, fell in love and had a daughter. Back in his country, Elián became a favorite of Fidel…
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The Punishment Vote
Elián and his dad went back to Cuba in June 2000, just four months before the US Presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Miami Cubans, hurt and angered by Preside…
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The Reunion
In the aftermath of the raid, agents brought Elián to Washington D.C. where father and son would finally reunite. But Elián and his dad were stuck in the United States while the co…
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The Raid
As negotiations failed, the U.S. government had been carefully planning for the possibility of taking Elián by force. Then on Easter Weekend, the order came. Armed agents stormed t…
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La Sombra
Throughout the ordeal, Elián's father always insisted he wanted the boy to return to Cuba. But many Cuban Americans speculated that Juan Miguel wasn't operating under free will — b…
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La Yuma
While authorities decided how to proceed, Elián stayed in Little Havana with his Miami relatives, including with his older cousin turned mother figure, Marisleysis. The Cuban Ameri…
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The Ultimatum
After Elián’s Thanksgiving rescue at sea, he was released to relatives in Miami. Just a day later, the Cuban government sent a note: the boy’s father and Fidel Castro wanted Elián…
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The Rescue
In 1999, two Florida fishermen found a cherub of a boy named Elián González in the sea on Thanksgiving. The boy had floated alone for days. His mother managed to save her son’s lif…
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Introducing: Chess Piece: The Elián González Story
On Thanksgiving 1999, five-year-old Elián González was rescued at sea near the Florida coast after his mother and others drowned on a make-shift boat, fleeing from Cuba. His miracu…