Elian Gonzalez's new chapter as a Cuban lawmaker

Cárdenas, Cuba CNN —More than two decades after he was found clinging to an inner tube in the Straits of Florida, Elián González is taking on his most high profile role since the bitter custody battle that returned him to Cuba.
On Monday, Cuba’s National Election Council said that the 470 candidates for the island’s National Assembly – González included—were approved by voters.
And being a lawmaker in Cuba does not necessarily imply having a lot of power.
Legislators only meet a few times a year, invariably support government proposals and are not even paid.
Cuba's shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez attends a ceremony in Havana June 30, 2010.
Gonzalez is studying to become a military officer, Cuba's official media said on Sunday as it marked a decade since his return to the Caribbean island.
When the US Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case, Elián and Juan Miguel traveled back to the island.
In Cuba, the now-famous González and his family led a not entirely normal life.
“At 29, he is a show pony for Cuba, as many exiles feared,” said an opinion article published by the Miami Herald Editorial Board in February.
Officials in Havana responded that the exiles were “worms,” an epithet that Fidel Castro flung at Cubans leaving the island.
“What we want one day is Cuban exiles are no longer exiled, that they come home,” González said.
“When the young people that have left are willing to work for Cuba, the well-being of Cubans beyond a political party and beyond ideologies,” he said.
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