ELIAN’S FAMILY TREE
FATHER’S SIDE
Elian’s grandparents, Juan Gonzalez (Cuba) and Mariela Quintana, (Cuba) They live in Cardenas, Cuba, next door to the boy’s father. Juan is a retired Interior Ministry police officer. Mariela traveled to the United States in December to lobby for Elian’s return.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. April 21, 2000 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Friday April 21, 2000 Home Edition Part A Part A Page 3 Metro Desk 2 inches; 63 words Type of Material: Correction
Gonzalez employment--A graphic titled “Elian’s Family Tree” in Wednesday’s Times stated incorrectly that Lazaro Gonzalez, the great-uncle who has claimed custody of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez, is an unemployed auto mechanic. Lazaro was hired earlier this year by Metro Ford in Miami to do auto body work and is currently on leave, according to Lobardo Perez Jr., owner of the car dealership and a director of the Cuban American National Foundation.
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The grandfather’s eight siblings:
Jose Luis,a died at 54 in 1983 in Cardenas, Cuba.
Caridad, 68 (U.S.): Anchored family in Miami after she arrived in 1966.
Yraida, 65 (U.S): Lives with her family in Cardenas.
Delfin, 62 (U.S.): Former political prisoner in Cuba who came to Miami in 1979 and owns a lumber and lobster-fishing supply business in the Florida Keys.
Georgina, 60 (U.S.): Factory worker who came to Miami with her husband and three children in 1983.
Manuel, 59 (U.S.): Better known as “Manolo,” he came to Miami with his younger brother Lazaro in 1984 and works as a school bus mechanic for Miami-Dade County. He is the only Florida family member who has said Elian should return with his father to Cuba.
Aide, 56 (Cuba): Lives in Cardenas with her daughter.
Lazaro, 49 (U.S.): An unemployed auto mechanic in Miami’s Little Havana, he has claimed custody of Elian.
Lazaro’s daughter, Marisleysis, 21 (U.S.): Has acted as a surrogate mother to Elian since his arrival in Miami 4 1/2 months ago.
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MOTHER’S SIDE
Benigno Brotons (died 1996) and Raquel Rodriguez, (Cuba): parents of Elisabeth Brotons, the mother of Elian, who drowned at sea in November while on her way to the United States, along with her boyfriend Lazaro Rafael Munero. Rodriguez visited Elian in the United States in December to lobby U.S. government officials for the boy’s return.
Juan Miguel Gonzalez is now married to Nersy Carmenate Castillo, above left. The couple has a 6-month-old son, Hianny. All three live in Cardenas.
Six-year-old Elian Gonzalez is caught in a tug-of-war custody battle between his Cuba- and Miami-based relatives. Here’s a look at who’s who in what has become, at least temporarily, the most talked about family in both nations.
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Note: All Miami family members except Manuel Gonzalez and his immediate family feel that Elian should stay in U.S.
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Source: Times staff reports
Researched by SUNNY KAPLAN and ANNA VIRTUE/Los Angeles Times
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