The Associated Press
22 April, 2000
Cuban Elian Gonzalez (6) is seized by US federal agents during a dawn raid on his relatives' home in Little Havana. Elian was found off the coast of Florida in November 1999, after the boat carrying him from Cuba sank, killing his mother and ten others. The US Immigration and Naturalization Service ruled that he should return to his father in Cuba, but a Florida family court granted Elian's great uncle temporary custody and a legal battle followed. The dispute sparked mass demonstrations and propaganda campaigns both in Cuba and among anti-Castro Cuban Americans. Elian's father came to the US in early April, and federal agents took custody of the boy two weeks later. Further lawsuits prevented them from returning to Cuba until the end of June.
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