Former Cuban castaway Elian Gonzalez, now grown, would like to visit US
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Dec. 20, 2014, file photo, Elian Gonzalez, the young Cuban rafter who was at the center of a bitter custody battle in 2000 between relatives in Miami and his father in Cuba, attends the closing ceremony of the legislative session at the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba. Gonzalez said during an ABC News interview that aired Monday, May 18, 2015, that if he could visit anywhere, it would be the United States so he could “give my love to (the) American people.” (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File) (The Associated Press)
Cuba's Elian Gonzalez, who was the focus of an international custody dispute when he was a little boy, says he'd like to visit the United States.
Gonzalez spoke to ABC News in an interview that aired Monday. He said if he could visit anywhere, it would be the U.S. to "give my love to (the) American people."
Now 21, Gonzalez was just a few weeks shy of 6 when his mother died at sea trying to take him to the U.S. on an illegal journey in late 1999. He survived by clinging to an inner tube and ended up with relatives in Florida after his rescue.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A high profile custody battle between those relatives and his father ensued, ending when his surviving parent returned him to the island in mid-2000.