Kendall Coffey on Elian Gonzalez Interview

Kendall Coffey- Elian Gonzalez

When Elian Gonzalez was six years old, he was fighting to stay in the United States, according to most who knew them.  Kendall Coffey was a U.S. attorney at the time of the high profile case.  Eventually Gonzalez went back to Cuba, where his father resides. 

In a recent interview with Cuban media, Elian Gonzalez denounced the United States government as imperialist and said that anti-Cuban freedom fighters only caused harm and pain.  Kendall Coffey told Steve Malzberg on Newsmax that his words were straight from the mouth of the Cuban government. 

“He was very happy to be in the United States when he was here," said Kendall Coffey.

"Of course he wanted his father to be with him, but he was very happy to be here at the time. We predicted at the time that he would become a trophy of the Castro regime, and that he would be indoctrinated and be fed a script of whatever the regime wanted him to say.  You and listeners can decide whether that prediction has come to pass. With respect to his mother, which is someone who we all feel very strongly about, she sacrificed her life to bring her son to freedom.  Many have lost their lives to come here and it’s a reminder of how incredibly lucky we are to live in the United States, because 90% of the rest of the world would give most anything to be here where you and I walk and breathe and enjoy life everyday.”

Some speculate that the Elian Gonzalez interview was an attempt by Cuba to start negotiations to free five men convicted of espionage in Miami.  Gonzalez called for President Obama to pardon them in the piece.  

Gonzalez was found near the shores of Florida in 1999, after a boat escaping Cuba had capsized and killed most of the passengers, including Gonzalez' mother.  Relatives in the United States fought to keep Gonzalez, but he was eventually sent back to Cuba.