 Elian Gonzalez lives with his great-uncle and other relatives in a single-story, cream-colored house in Little Havana. Their home is in a neighborhood of pastel-colored homes that sit quietly behind privacy fences and palm trees. An occasional cat scampers out of traffic, and dusk is welcomed by the alluring beat of salsa music.

In normal times, it would seem to be a nice enough place for a little boy to live. But with Elian at the center of an escalating, international custody fight, these times are anything but normal.