Havana, Cuba (CNN) When little Elian Gonzalez returned to Cuba in 2000 following a poisonous custody battle and a federal raid on his Miami relatives' home, it was to resume a life far from the glare of the media spotlight. At least that's what Cuban officials and his father said at the time.

Fifteen years later, it hasn't worked out that way.

Gonzalez, 21, remains one of the most identifiable figures on the island and one of his generation's most outspoken supporters of the Cuban Revolution.

The little boy who was found clinging to an inner tube in the Florida Straits, and became famous playing in the yard of his Miami kin's home while two countries battled over his fate, is now a military cadet studying industrial engineering.

"I don't do anything different than other young people," Gonzalez said in June in an interview with the Cuban Communist Party daily Granma. "I have fun, play sports, but I am also involved with the work of the revolution and realize that young people are essential for the development of the country."

Photos: Elian Gonzalez in the spotlight Photos: Elian Gonzalez in the spotlight Elian Gonzalez was rescued from an inner tube in the Florida Straits in 1999 at age 6. His mother and nine others drowned after their rickety boat capsized while they tried to make their way from Cuba to the United States. After his rescue, Elian was placed with relatives in Miami, who wanted to keep him in the U.S. Here, the young boy decorates a Christmas tree with his cousin Marisleysis Gonzalez in December 1999. Hide Caption 1 of 11 Photos: Elian Gonzalez in the spotlight Supporters of Elian staying in the United States hang a sign that says "Love, Justice and Liberty" beneath a painted mural of the 6-year-old next door to his relatives' residence in Miami's Little Havana. The case of the telegenic boy became a flashpoint between supporters and opponents of Castro's revolution. Hide Caption 2 of 11 Photos: Elian Gonzalez in the spotlight Elian's father, Juan Miguel, fought to bring his son back to Cuba. Cuban leader Fidel Castro led massive protests on the island demanding Elian's return. His Miami relatives argued if the boy went back to Cuba, he would become a brainwashed trophy for Castro in his long-running feud with the U.S. Hide Caption 3 of 11 Photos: Elian Gonzalez in the spotlight When Elian's Miami family refused to hand him over to his father in Cuba, armed federal agents stormed the home of his uncle in 2000 and seized the boy. Hide Caption 4 of 11 Photos: Elian Gonzalez in the spotlight Elian was reunited with his father in April 2000, after the raid. Here, he poses with his father, half-brother and stepmother at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. Hide Caption 5 of 11 Photos: Elian Gonzalez in the spotlight Following more court proceedings, ending with the Supreme Court rejecting the Miami relatives' efforts to get him back, the family flew home to Cuba. His grandfather Juan Gonzalez hugs him upon his arrival at the Jose Marti Airport in Havana in June 2000, seven months after he was found in the water. Hide Caption 6 of 11 Photos: Elian Gonzalez in the spotlight Elian celebrates his seventh birthday with classmates in Cardenas, Cuba. The guest of honor was Fidel Castro (unseen). Despite the promises he would return to his old life, Elian never stayed out of the public spotlight too long. Hide Caption 7 of 11 Photos: Elian Gonzalez in the spotlight Castro, second from right, talks with Elian in July 2001 in Cardenas, during a political gathering to inaugurate the Museo a la Batalla de Ideas , the Museum of the Battle of Ideas, which highlights Castro's clashes with the U.S. over the years and the propaganda victory that the Elian affair provided Castro's revolution. A diverse range of objects relating to Elian's custody battle in the U.S. was exhibited. To the right is Elian's father, who went from being a waiter to being a member of the country's National Assembly. Hide Caption 8 of 11 Photos: Elian Gonzalez in the spotlight Elian, right, accompanied by a fellow military student, smiles in June 2008 in Havana as he attends an event marking the 80th anniversary of the birth of a Cuban national hero, Argentina's Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Gonzalez had joined Cuba's Young Communist Union. In May 2015, he was elected to the leadership of his local Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, the neighborhood watch groups that act as the front-line eyes and ears of the Cuban government. Hide Caption 9 of 11 Photos: Elian Gonzalez in the spotlight In June 2010, on the 10th anniversary of Elian's return from Miami, Cuban President Raul Castro talks to him in a Havana church. After he graduates, Gonzalez told Cuban Communist Party daily Granma, he will join the Cuban military. "Living here is a debt I owe to the Cuban people," Gonzalez said. "That's who I will always work and fight for." Hide Caption 10 of 11 Photos: Elian Gonzalez in the spotlight Elian Gonzalez, second left, poses with members of the so-called " Cuban Five " intelligence agents, from left, Fernando Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and Ramon Labanino, at the mausoleum of national hero Jose Marti in Santiago de Cuba on July 24. Speaking to ABC News in May, Gonzalez said he would like to visit the U.S. again one day to thank the people who supported his return to Cuba. Hide Caption 11 of 11

After he graduates, Gonzalez told Granma, he will join the Cuban military.

"Living here is a debt I owe to the Cuban people," Gonzalez said. "That's who I will always work and fight for."

A deadly trip on a rickety boat

His journey to fame began with the international incident that exploded after 6-year-old Elian was found in the water on Thanksgiving Day 1999.

His mother, Elizabeth, and nine other people who were taking part in the clandestine journey drowned after their rickety boat capsized in high seas while they tried to make their way from Cuba to the United States.

Elian's father, Juan Miguel, fought to bring the boy back to Cuba. Cuban leader Fidel Castro led massive protests on the island demanding Elian's return.

The case became a flashpoint in the already boiling feud between supporters and opponents of Castro's revolution.

Elian's Miami relatives argued if the boy went back to Cuba, he would become a brainwashed trophy for Castro in his long-running feud with the U.S.

As the two sides fought out the high-profile case in court, U.S. immigration officials decided to put Elian in the custody of his father, who had come to the United States to press for his son's return.

I don't profess to have any religion, but if I did my God would be Fidel Castro. He is like a ship that knew to take his crew on the right path. Elian Gonzalez

Elian's relatives in Miami refused to hand him over, and then, in a night-time raid, armed federal agents stormed the home of his uncle and seized the boy. An Associated Press photograph of the terrified child, cowering as an officer in riot gear points an assault rifle at him, inflamed passions even more.

Rioting broke out in Miami as many in the Cuban-American community reacted angrily to the seizure of the boy.

Elian was reunited with his father and following more court proceedings -- ending with the Supreme Court rejecting the Miami relatives' efforts to get him back -- father and son flew home to Cuba.

A massive 'welcome home' demonstration

There the government celebrated Elian's return with a massive demonstration.

From then on, Elian Gonzalez was surrounded by government bodyguards. He said later that they became some of his best friends during his childhood.

Gonzalez's father, a waiter who had received invitations to defect while in the United States, was appointed to the island's National Assembly.

Despite the promises he would return to his old life, Elian Gonzalez never stayed out of the public spotlight too long.

At his seventh birthday party, the guest of honor was Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Images of Elian and Castro celebrating were first shown on the island's state-run TV and then transmitted around the world, to a public still fascinated by the case of the rafter-boy.

"Fidel Castro for me is like a father," Gonzalez said in an interview with Cuba's state-run media in 2013. "I don't profess to have any religion, but if I did my God would be Fidel Castro. He is like a ship that knew to take his crew on the right path."

'I saw the monster from the inside'

In another 2013 interview, Gonzalez said he remembers little of the disastrous journey to the U.S. or the tense months living with relatives in Miami's Little Havana while lawyers and government officials argued over his future.

His mother was "manipulated" by her boyfriend to leave Cuba, he said, and if he had stayed in Miami, he would have been forced to become "a performer" for the media.

"I saw the monster from the inside," he said, quoting Cuba's revolutionary poet Jose Marti.

JUST WATCHED 2010: Elian Gonzalez talks about deportation Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH 2010: Elian Gonzalez talks about deportation 01:44

That same year, Gonzalez took his first trip outside of Cuba since his return from the United States, traveling to Ecuador for a youth conference.

During the conference, Gonzalez blasted U.S. policies that he said encouraged Cubans like his mother to make the dangerous journey by sea to Florida.

"Just like her, many others have died attempting to go to the United States. But it's the U.S. government's fault," he told CNN in an interview. "Their unjust embargo provokes an internal and critical economic situation in Cuba."

'The youngest of our heroes'

Last December, Gonzalez was one of the guests of honor at the government celebration to mark the return of three Cuban intelligence agents who were freed as part of the historic thawing of relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

To the American people, first I say thank you for the love they give me. I want the time to give my love to American people. Elian Gonzalez

"We are proud of him, as the youngest of our heroes," Cuban President Raul Castro said during the ceremony, gesturing to Gonzalez in the audience, as he recounted the young man's achievements in school the way a proud father would.

Speaking to ABC News in May, Gonzalez said he would like to visit the United States again one day to thank the people who supported his return to Cuba.

"To the American people, first I say thank you for the love they give me," Gonzalez said. "I want the time to give my love to American people."

But Gonzalez remains a strident revolutionary.

In May, he was elected to the leadership of his local Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, the neighborhood watch groups that act as the front-line eyes and ears of the Cuban government. In recent years participation in the committees has dwindled, particularly among the young, who seem less interested in the 59-year-old revolution than their parents and grandparents are.

"It's a mistake to say that young people are 'lost,'" Gonzalez said in the interview with Granma in June. "Young people aren't the future, we are the present."