Family members of Elian Gonzalez, the refugee boy rescued from the ocean but returned to his Cuban father during the Clinton administration, called a press conference to protest Barack Obama's visit to Florida and the candidate's hiring of two staff members who were involved in sending the boy back eight years ago.

The capture of Elian Gonzalez

The family specifically points to Obama's foreign policy advisor, Greg Craig, who represented Elian's Cuban father during the custody battle, and Eric Holder, a member of Obama's vice-presidential search committee, who served as deputy attorney general during the much-publicized affair.

Delfin Gonzalez, Elian's great-uncle, stood in the front yard of the home where immigration agents had seized the boy at gunpoint on April 22, 2000. "My fear is that those who collaborated with Cuba's communist government and made a great mistake with a defenseless child will make the same mistake again against this nation that is facing danger from terrorism," he said.

Gonzalez told the Miami Herald earlier, "Some wounds are so deep that they do not heal over time, such as taking a child and sealing his fate to a communist dictatorship."

Elian Gozalez made news earlier this week when CNN reported the boy, now 14, had joined Cuba's Young Communist Union.

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Obama responded to the family's objections at a waterfront park in Jacksonville: "That was eight years ago, and obviously it was a wrenching situation for the families, but I'm running for president in 2008 and my focus is: how do we create a Cuba policy that will create political freedom on that island and allow the people who live there to prosper?"

Florida Republican state representative David Rivera wasn't willing to let Obama dismiss the events as old history. "The link between Barack Obama and a Castro apologist like Greg Craig is extremely relevant to Cuban-American voters," he told the Miami Herald, "because it provides further insight into Obama's weak position toward the Castro dictatorship."

At a speech to the Cuban American National Foundation last month, Obama reiterated his plans for using "direct diplomacy" with Cuba, indicating he would likely meet directly with Cuban leader Raul Castro. He has also advocated changing American policy to allow Cuban exiles to visit Cuba more often and to allow money transfers by Cuban Americans to family on the island.

Delfin Gonzalez criticized Obama's proposed approach, saying, "It's a great mistake because by going to Cuba they supply the money that the Cuban regime needs to continue repressing the people."

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