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Elian's Father Honored As a Modern Hero
Praising Elian Gonzalez's father for shunning bribes to defect during his seven-month fight to bring his son back to Cuba, President Fidel Castro awarded him one of Cuba's highest civilian honors, formally making him a modern day communist hero.
Juan Miguel Gonzalez said during the ordeal that anti-communist Cuban exiles in Miami, who abhor Castro and his government, had offered him $2 million if he would stay in the United States with Elian. Gonzalez, a member of Cuba's Communist Party, said at the time he was offended by the offer.
"His conduct was filled with glory and he gained for always the admiration of his people," Castro said at the Wednesday night ceremony.
Gonzalez had tears in his eyes when Castro pinned on his dark suit the Carlos Manuel de Cespedes medal and compared Elian's father to Cespedes, an independence hero and the father of Cuba.
"A small boy and a humble Cuban father, whom very few people knew just a few months ago, came back converted into gigantic moral symbols of our homeland," Castro told the audience of 5,000, including top government and party officials.
Then, directly addressing Gonzalez, Castro said: "You showed that in the decisive moments in the history of a country, the conduct of a man can overcome all of the traitors put together ...
"Our most important revolutionary duty is to fight to make sure that this does not happen again," Castro said. "We will keep fighting. And we will conquer!"
"I owe this to all the people of Cuba," Gonzalez, 31, said, following a standing ovation. "I have not done anything out of this world. I have done what any other father would have."
Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's National Assembly and Gonzalez's adviser during the fight for his son, earlier read a resolution by Cuba's ruling Council of State selecting Gonzalez for the award.
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