Elián González, the rafter boy who represented the polarization between Cuba and USA in 1999, he began his career in politics: he debuted this Wednesday as deputyat 29 years old, in a parliamentary session that will re-elect Miguel Díaz-Canel for a second term.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel offered to be re-elected this Wednesday by Parliament for a second and final term without any sign of a problem, except for the obstacle that it will have to overcome due to the biggest economic crisis that has plagued the communist country in three decades, attributed mainly to the US blockade.
The session of the National Assembly of Popular Power, headed by Díaz-Canel, 62, and former president and revolutionary leader Raúl Castrobrother of the late leader of the revolution, Fidel Castro, began with the national anthem interpreted by César López, considered one of the best saxophonists in Cuba.
among those present the name of Elián González appearedthat young man who got his nickname “rafter boy” after the whole country knew his story of survival in 1999. The legislator is part of a group of 93 young people under 35 who make up the National Assembly of 470 seats, which installed its X Legislature this Wednesday.
The political arc received the historic rafter boy: “Just before the start of the session, the joy of meeting Deputy Elián”tweeted the also deputy Gerardo Hernández, one of the five Cubans arrested in 1998 in the United States and sentenced to long prison terms for espionage.
The story of the rafter boy
elian gonzalez he was dubbed the “rafter boy” in November 1999, when Elizabeth Brotón embarked with her son on a clandestine boat with the purpose of reaching Miami. The boat sank in the middle of the Florida Straits with 14 passengers on board: only two young people and the child were saved. Elián, who was five years old at the time, miraculously survived the shipwreck.
The event marked a turning point and a struggle throughout Cuba: JJuan Miguel González, his father, a member of the Communist Party and resident in Cuba, He demanded the return of his son while Elián’s family in Miami asked that he not be returned to the island.
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The conflict over Elián’s return became a national issue in Cuba. Fidel Castro, the historic leader who died in 2016he won the fight with Washington and the boy was returned to the island.
Since his return, Elián is usually present at major events of the revolution, but in 2017 he told CNN that he wanted to reconcile with his family in Miami. “We have been separated by laws, by the blockade, by the sea. We do not have to continue separating as a family,” he said then.
Source: Ambito
