In November of 1999, three days before Thanksgiving, twelve people got in a small boat with destination to Florida. The trip was to take a few days, but unfortunately a catastrophe happened, and eleven of the small boats occupants drowned, leaving only one survivor, a small five-year-old boy named Elian Gonzales. Elian, a kid just like any other kid from Cuba, lived a normal life with his mother Elizabeth, in the town of Cardenas. After the boat sank, little Elian drifted in the sea in an inner tube for two days before being rescued in good condition (msnbc). Once in Miami, he was taken to his relatives where he has stayed for the past five months.

     As soon as he was rescued, the conflict began between the U.S. and Cuba. Many Cuban-Americans want the boy to stay because they argue that his mother died in search of a better opportunity for her kid. The boy also has a lot of support from the Miami residents, most of them of Cuban descent. Most of the Hispanic population in Miami is Cuban, and they know how hard it would be for the kid if he returned to Cuba. I’m also a supporter of what the people in Miami think. I think that the boy should stay in the United States because he would have a better life here in the U.S. than in Cuba.

    In Cuba, however, they want for the boy to return, and an important factor to consider is that his father lives in Cuba. His father, Juan Miguel Gonzales, a tourist employee and member of the Communist party, accused his wife of kidnapping Elian (granma). He divorced her in 1997, so the two parents didn't have a good relation. Elian's father, Juan, has married again and has a newborn child.  He argues that Elian’s mother took the boy without his permission, and wants him to return to Cuba.   However, the U.S. immigration office gave the boy permission to stay while the issue was resolved. Castro has made a big effort for the kid to return, because he thinks that the boy belongs to his father, while his relatives think that he should stay in the U.S. where his life would improve dramatically.

    Therefore, I think it's wrong that the bad relationship between these two countries may negatively affect the life of a young boy. Cuba and the United States for the last forty years have had difficult relationships with each other. The most important reason why the U.S. has put regulations and restrictions on Cuba in trade and diplomatic relationships, not only with the U.S. but also with other countries, is because Cuba is a communist country. We all know that China is a communist country, and they have a strong economic relationship with the U.S.  But, China needs the U.S. just as much as the U.S. needs China, for the U.S. is a great consumer of China's high productivity and cheap labor, and China benefits from the great amounts of products they export to the U.S.  However, Cuba is not a very powerful or rich country that might produce benefits for the U.S.  So, America is not very interested in establishing any form of relationships with Cuba. Also, most Americans still cannot forget how Cuba helped the Soviet Union in its Cold War against the U.S.  Cuba allowed the Soviets to establish missiles in the island threatening the national security of the United States. This incident made the relationship between the two countries worsens, and has not improved for the past 40 years.  Political problems between two countries can sometimes affect the lives of its citizens, but it shouldn't affect the children.

    Moreover, I think that the American government could make an exception in the cases of children that have problems in their own countries. Children are not responsible for the negative actions that happen in their countries, and shouldn't have to suffer the consequences. If there's nothing to be done to help them then, that's very sad and unfortunate, but if someone has the opportunity to help the children in trouble then, the help should not be denied. There are countries where children have to work at a very young age and don’t have the opportunity to go to school, and one of these countries is Cuba, like many Latin American countries. The U.S. could return the adult immigrants back to their countries, if this excess of immigrants may affect the economy or the work force, but the children could adapt very quickly to the American system of life, and be an advantage to the country since children can learn the language very easy.

    However, some people argue that the Elian should go back to Cuba with his father because a child is supposed to be raised by his or her parents. The best persons to educate a child are its parent’s, but there are some special occasions when that child should be left to live with its relatives if this is going to improve his or her life, and this is the case with Elian.  If Elian was my son and I lived in Cuba with him, I would let him stay in the U.S. if this gave him the opportunity for a better life. In Cuba, it's most likely that he wouldn't have the opportunity to get an education, and he might end up working in a low paying job. In the U.S. it is not guaranteed that he will finish a career and be successful, but at least he would have more opportunities for a better life. The best gift that a parent can leave to his or her child is an education. An education is a ticket to a better life, not only economically, but a more fulfilling life in every sense of the term.  Elian's father is being selfish, because he is only thinking about himself and that he wants the boy to be with him, but he is not considering or thinking about the boy’s life in the future.  Elian’s father is not thinking that at some point Elian is going to ask him, when Elian becomes a man and works in the Havana for two dollars a day, why didn't he let him stay in the U.S. to have an opportunity for a very different life.