Elian Gonzalez Would Die for Cuba

Elian Gonzalez, the “rafter boy” whose escape from Cuba and subsequent custody battle following his mother’s death gripped both nations for weeks in 1999, is now 16 and has declared he would die for Cuba. Gonzalez is studying at Los Camilitos Military School and says he is not sure what his future profession would be, though he did say he had a “great commitment” to the Cuban Revolution. Since U.S. agents seized Gonzalez and returned him to his father in Cuba 10 years ago, he has been a frequent subject of Cuban state-run interviews. In this latest interview, he criticized the U.S. capitalist government, not the American people, and he echoed Cuban President Fidel Castro’s case against nuclear war.