"THIS DAY IN CUBAN HISTORY....."

A publication of the Cuban Studies Institute

THIS DAY IN CUBAN HISTORY 

Elian González (1993-  ).  Rescued from an inner tube floating in the Florida Strait, November 30, 1999, two days after his mother, Elizabeth Brotón, and 10 companions had drowned trying to reach Miami from Cuba, this small boy (born December 6) became the subject of a six month politicized custody battle, between his father in Cárdenas, supported and manipulated by the Cuban government and his maternal great-uncle in Miami, eventually decided by the United States Department of Justice under President Bill Clinton, in favor of the father.  In June 2000 Elian was returned to Cuba.
 

Jaime Suchlicki is Director of the Cuban Studies Institute, CSI, a non-profit research group in Coral Gables, FL. He is the author of Cuba: From Columbus to Castro & Beyond, now in its 5th edition; Mexico: From Montezuma to the Rise of the PAN, 2nd edition, and of the recently published Breve Historia de Cuba.