While authorities decided how to proceed, Elián stayed in Little Havana with his Miami relatives, including with his older cousin turned mother figure, Marisleysis. The Cuban American community in Miami rallied around the family, arguing that Elián would only be free in the U.S., and that sending him back to Cuba was sentencing him to a life under the Communist regime.

This idea was fueled by traditional exile ideology, a set of beliefs informed by the Cuban American experience. Peniley explores how the staunch ideology, often informed by trauma, animated Elián' s story. While in Cuba, the ideology of the revolution also colored Elián's journey. Peniley reflects on what it has been like for her to experience Cuba and Miami — two places with very strong belief systems. And she revisits how the INS finally decided who Elián should stay with.

 

This season's cover art by Ranfis Suárez Ramos.

Thanks to These Archival Sources:

Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives

Original Material Appeared In:

CNN's "Elián: The Remarkable Story of A Cuban Boy's Journey to America"

C-SPAN

Gabriel Iglesias' "How To Tell Latinos Apart"

Martí Noticias

Sony Pictures' "3:10 To Yuma"

YouTube/dvjmindsnare

 

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