Elián González is in the midst of his first trip outside of Cuba since his return to the island over a decade ago. He is currently in Ecuador, serving as part of the Cuban delegation to the World Festival of Youth and Students.

Gonzalez first rose to prominence as a would-be child refugee to the United States. During Thanksgiving weekend in 1999, Gonzales and his mother were packed with other would-be refugees onto a crowded Miami-bound boat. Tragically, the boat capsized and Gonzales's mother and 10 others died. Elián was rescued by fishermen and brought into the U.S., a 5-year-old child suddenly and unwittingly plunged into the heart of an international political storm.

While in Miami, Elián was placed in the care of an uncle, and his relatives requested that he be given political asylum and allowed to remain in the U.S. Meanwhile, González's father asked that his son be returned to Cuba. After months of legal wrangling and political posturing, González's father was allowed to come to the U.S. to retrieve his child.

González's U.S. relatives, however, refused to hand him over. Eventually, the standoff ended when armed U.S. federal agents raided the house in which González was being held and forcibly removed the boy.

Today, González is a 20-year-old engineering student, and he is old enough to better understand the circumstances surrounding his ordeal in the U.S. He blames the United States for his mother's death and is highly critical of the U.S. government and its policies towards Cuba.

Specifically, he says that the Cuban Adjustment Act (the law that allows Cubans to remain in the United States regardless of how they enter the country) is to blame for the death of his mother, as well as countless other would-be defectors who attempt the dangerous passage from Cuba to Florida.

González is to speak at the Festival later this week, though he has not yet told the press what he plans to talk about. He has said that his delegation is in Ecuador to promote a "revolutionary progressive movement that leads to socialism," so his speech is likely to promote such aims.