Nego-sha-gate

In November 1999, five year old Elián Gonzalez was found in an inner tube floating at sea three miles off the coast of Florida's Fort Lauderdale. The fishermen who found the boy turned him over to the US Coast Guard. Elián's mother and twelve other escaped from Cuba headed to The United States. The motor of the boat broke down and started taking on water during a storm. Only three made it to safety, the others including Elián's perished at sea.
Elián was released temporarily to his great-uncle, Lázaro, who lived in the Little Havana section of Miami. His cousin Marisleysis acted as the guardian to Elián.

Elián's father In Cuba, was trying to get the boy returned to his country and the Miami family was trying to keep him in the United States. Negotiations went on for weeks and all options had run out

A Florida family court judge revoked Lázaro's temporary custody, clearing the way for González to be returned to his father's custody. Attorney General Janet Reno ordered the return of Elián González to his father and set a deadline of April 13, 2000

The house was surrounded by protesters as well as police. There was speculation that some of the protesters were armed and prepared to thwart any government action. The relatives insisted on guarantees that they could live with the child for several months and retain custody, yet the family defied the order to release custody of the boy. Negotiations carried on throughout the night, but Reno claimed that the relatives rejected all workable solutions and made the decision to remove González from the house and instructed agents of the Border Patrol's special BORTAC unit to raid the house in the pre-dawn hours of Easter Eve, April 22. They snatched the boy to safety and four hours later, reunited him with his father who was flown from Cuba to the Coast Guard Station in Opa Locka, Florida.

It's all over but the shouting... I remember hearing Elián's cousin Marisleysis crying to the media "We've always tried to nego-sha-gate..."

My ex-wife and I followed the story and it became an inside joke to mispronounce negotiate. Marisleysis... you go girl!

Currently, I'm nego-sha-gating some small details on the sale of my house.