[Gene Randall, Cnn Anchor:] Now to the cover story of "George Magazine." Joining me is Ann Louise Bardach, special correspondent for "George." She's been in contact with people closely connected to Juan Miguel Gonzalez. She has interviewed Cuban President Fidel Castro, and she has traced the lives of the others on that ill-fated boat with Elian Gonzalez. And, Ms. Bardach, nice to have you with us. There were two other survivors on that boat. What's happened to them?
[Ann Louise Bardach, Special Correspondent, "george Magazine":] They're living in Hialeah and they both have jobs at Metro Ford.
[Randall:] Who were they?
[Bardach:] They were actually more or less strangers on the boat. They knew Elian's mother's boyfriend, but not the other people because on the boat was basically two extended families.
[Randall:] Tell us what your research turned up vis-a-vis the rallying cry by the Miami relatives that Elian's mother came to this country in a quest for freedom, therefore Elian should be able to stay in the United States.
[Bardach:] Well, according to friends and family that were the closest to Elizabeth, she was pretty apolitical and she was pretty much a small-town girl who didn't have much curiosity. She didn't even travel much in Cuba. She came to the states for one reason only, and that's to be with her boyfriend Lazaro who came back from Miami to get her. But he was no longer able to live in Cuba because he was always in trouble with the law. He had a lot of problems in Cuba. In order for her to be with him, she had to be with him in Miami. Otherwise, they say she never would have left. And she was unable to leave her son Elian because this is a child she had had seven miscarriages previously and just was very bonded with the child.
[Randall:] So you're saying this was not the political statement that the Miami relatives would have people believe?
[Bardach:] Well, her best friend said and it's in the story is those were not her sentiments, those were not her ideals, she was never a dissident. In fact, Elizabeth Brotens Rodriguez was, in fact had a job in the Communist Party in Cardenas, was pretty active. She represented her union of workers in the local Communist Party.
[Randall:] With whom did Elian Gonzalez live in Cuba?
[Bardach:] Most of the time with his father because Juan Miguel and his new wife and Elian's brother had a large place on Calle Cocilla. And Elizabeth and her boyfriend really, basically, had one room. And so, most of the time, he was with the father, but also of course with his mother and other relatives, because in Cuba you also live with grandparents, and the extended family is very important.
[Randall:] What kind of family situation would this boy have on his return to Cuba?
[Bardach:] Well, they have a pretty nice house by Cuban standards, Juan Miguel and his wife, Narsy. I mean, Elian has his own bedroom. It's actually air-conditioned, which is pretty rare. He has his brother. He will go back to his schoolhouse which has around, I guess, 25 students in the class. He will be in school, and he'll probably, you know, eventually become a Young Pioneer which is the juvenile level of the Communist Party.
[Randall:] You are well aware of the charges, again, by the Miami relatives and others, I must say, that once this boy goes to Cuba, assuming he returns to his native land, that he'll be in line for some kind of re-indoctrination into the communist way of life. Is there anything to that?
[Bardach:] Well, both sides are arguing and spinning. I mean, Juan Miguel and the Cuban side is arguing he's been brainwashed for the last five months, that when he arrived in Miami he asked to speak to his father and gave his father's name and number. And we saw after four months he's on video saying, I don't want to go back to Cuba. So they're arguing he's been brainwashed in Miami. Now, the Miami relatives will say that the father will brainwash him against them. Well, the father feels that his own son was turned against him. And one thing that is certain is, by all sides, everybody agreed that Juan Miguel was a devoted, doting dad.
[Randall:] In 15 seconds, do you see anything positive in the way of U.S.-Cuban relations coming out of this situation?
[Bardach:] I do. I think everybody is going to take a good look at this, and I think that our ideas of the black and white situation, that Cuba is this Stalinist gulog and that Miami is the land of freedom. I think we're going to start seeing much more gray about both of those areas, and we're going to see that, you know, the freedom of speech is questionable in both places, and that, in some ways, Miami and Havana are mirror universes of each other.
[Randall:] Ann Louise Bardach of "George Magazine," thanks very much. Thanks for coming in.