How did the U.S. governments predicament over Elian Gonzalez arise?
Elian Gonzalez found himself at the center of an ideologically driven custody battle after he was brought ashore in the U.S. on Thanksgiving Day after his mother had died trying to reach Florida. Current U.S. law allows Cubans who reach U.S. soil to remain here, although those intercepted at sea by the Coast Guard are sent home. Elian’s mother and father are divorced, but the father still plays an active part in the boy’s life. His mother and her new husband had taken Elian along on their doomed attempt to reach the U.S. without the knowledge or permission of his father. His father, Juan Gonzalez, quickly indicated he wanted his son returned to him in Cuba. But Juan’s fiercely anti-Castro uncles in Miami insisted that the boy would have a better life in the U.S. and that he should not be sent back. That put the onus on Washington to resolve the issue, and the Clinton administration instructed the INS to make a determination on the basis of U.S. law in the case. Why did Elian’s fate bec
