Elian Gonzalez joins Cuba's youth Communists

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- The Cuban boy at the center of an international custody battle eight years ago has joined Cuba's Young Communist Union.

Elian Gonzalez said he will never let down ex-President Fidel Castro and his brother Raul Castro, according to the Communist youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde.

Raul Castro succeeded Fidel as president earlier this year.

Now 14, Elian was 6 when his relatives in Miami, Florida, lost their fight to keep him in the United States and he was returned to Cuba in mid-2000 with his father.

Elian had survived a boating accident off the Florida coast that killed his mother, who was attempting to get to the U.S.

Juventud Rebelde says in its Sunday edition that the boy was among 18,000 people who joined the group Saturday.

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