Thursday, February 14, 2008

Alien smuggling, seen from both sides

There have been lots of articles about alien smuggling from Cuba, but this one by David Adams of the St. Petersburg Times is the first I have ever seen that covers an incident from both sides – in this case from Key Biscayne, Florida and Caibarien, Cuba.

It paints a horrible picture, with smugglers putting 30 people aboard boats designed for ten, and dropping the Cubans on New Year’s Eve on a sandbar so they could make their way to Florida’s shore, women and children included, through currents that claimed one life.

This incident was mentioned in an article published last month by Coast Guard’s district commander in Sun Sentinel. The article is a plea to Cuban Americans to cease paying smugglers and to have their relatives in Cuba use legal means to immigrate to the United States.

at

3 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 14, 2008 at 7:19 PM

    Good article. Gives insights into both perspectives. Refreshing to hear something outside of the propoganda machines in Cuba and Miami.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Henry Louis GomezFebruary 15, 2008 at 5:59 PM

    I'm not buying the Cuban coast guard cooperation bit. Those boats that are reported by the Cubans are operators refusing to pay the "toll". I find it unlikely that foreign vessels can get in and out of a militarized country like Cuba that claims it's waiting for a US invasion without being detected. It's not like the US where there's tons of boat traffic.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Phil PetersFebruary 16, 2008 at 7:35 AM

    Henry, I think that the Bush Administration would have ended the Coast Guard relationship about 7 years ago, and would have ended the practice (started by Clinton) of posting a US Coast Guard officer in the US Interests Section in Havana, if there were no benefit for us.

    ReplyDelete