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Elian Gonzalez has finally spoken about a decade later after his nasty custody controversy that took place in Florida after he was rescued floating as an escapee from Cuba.

Gonzalez says he’s not angry at his Miami relatives who fought to keep him in the United States and thanks “a large part of the American public” supported him being reunited with his father in Cuba.

Now at 16 years old, Gonzalez’s first comments in years came to foreign reporters after President Raul Castro attended a state celebration Wednesday night marking the 10th anniversary of the famous ex-castaway’s return home to the Cuba.

Gonzalez stated:

“Even though they didn’t help me in every way possible, they didn’t help me move forward, they are still my own family, I don’t have anger for them.   It’s only that it wasn’t the best effort possible, and thanks to a large part of the American public, and our public, today I’m with my father and I feel happy here.”

Government media marked the 10th anniversary last weekend, reporting Gonzalez is studying to become an officer at the Camilo Cienfuegos military school in Matanzas.

“The boy of yesterday is now a Cuban like any other,” said the Communist Youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde, adding that “a decade after being used as a toy by the enemies of the revolution … he is preparing to be a future officer of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.”