Elian Gonzalez, the boy who found himself at the centre of a controversial custody battle between his father in Cuba and his relatives in the United States 16 years ago, praised Fidel Castro, who, he said, made it possible for him to return to his home country.
Gonzalez appeared on a government-run television programme on Sunday and said Castro, who died on Friday at the age of 90, was like a father and a friend to him.
Watch: A look back on the life of Fidel Castro
“He is my father who, like my father, I wanted to show him everything I achieved. That he would be proud of me. That’s how I was with Fidel,” Gonzalez said in a subtitled portion of the interview posted online by NBC Latino. “If I learned something and wanted to show him, and there are still many things that I wanted to show him ... And that in a public event he said he considered me a friend, it was an honour.”
Gonzalez was five years old when his mother and several others voyaged to the Atlantic Ocean to get to the US. His mother died, but the boy survived and was rescued by fishermen. He was later taken to his relatives’ home in South Florida.
I wanted to show him everything I achieved ... That’s how I was with Fidel