Elian returns to Cuba

Elian Gonzalez has left the United States and arrived back in Cuba, ending this chapter in the long, drawn-out battle over his future.

The boy and his father left Dulles International Airport in Washington on Wednesday afternoon, arriving in Havana a few hours later.

Several hundred flag-waving children from Elian's school were at the airport to greet him. But the Cuban government asked the general population not to celebrate in the streets.

At Dulles airport, Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, walked to a podium on the tarmac and spoke into dozens of microphones. He said he wanted to thank the American people for their support.

"I think that this has allowed me to meet intelligent people in this country, and I hope that in the future that this friendship, and this impression that I have of the U.S. people, that the same thing can come between our two countries, Cuba and the U.S."

The departure of Elian and his father brought an end to a seven-month drama. Earlier in the day, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a formal appeal by the boy's Miami relatives to keep the boy in America.

The saga began when Elian was rescued off the coast of Florida last November. The migrant ship enroute from Cuba to the U.S. sank. His mother and 10 others drowned.

U.S. President Bill Clinton said it would have been fine with him if Elian and his father had decided to stay in the United States. But Clinton says he believes justice has been done.

"We upheld here what I think is quite an important principle, as well as what is clearly the law of the United States. Do I wish it had unfolded in a less dramatic and a less traumatic way for all concerned? Of course I do."

The U.S. government spent nearly $3 million on the custody case. It was a political hot potato for the government, triggering anti-communist sentiments in Congress and among Cuban exiles.

The emotional battle came to symbolize four decades of bitterness between the exiles and the communist country they fled.

Elian's father has accused the Miami relatives of using the boy as a political tool against Cuban president Fidel Castro.

A spokesperson for Elian's Miami relatives says they are devastated about Elian's departure. They say it means he will never be free.

"Elian's mother brought him to this great country seeking the promise of the Statue of Liberty. She and her son were among the 'huddled masses yearning to be free,'" said Roger Bernstein.

In Miami outside the home where Elian lived, the mood was one of angry resignation.

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Elian's departure is a defeat for his Miami relatives. But some analysts say Cubans may benefit from the saga. They say that strangely enough it has helped improve relations between the United States and Cuba.