RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The recent events in Cuba have repercussions in Florida and, particularly, in Miami. Miamians have taken to the streets in support of the call for freedom seen in the streets of Cuba, and now the protest has reached the water too.
Without an organization to coordinate them, and essentially self-convened through social networks, dozens of Floridians are boarding private boats to cross the Florida Straits and travel twelve miles to Cuba, at the limit of international waters.
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“There is too much pressure. Police sent by the communists to confront people calling for freedom. That is a country where people have no hope of any kind. People are peacefully protesting and they react by repressing. We can’t take it anymore, it’s time to go and fight alongside our people. I hope the United States understands that I am going to defend the people in which I was born,” said Alejandro Morúa, a Havana native living in Miami for 13 years, who today is boarding one of the boats leaving the Pelican Marina in Miami bound for the island where he was born.
The boats are carrying medicine and food to be delivered to Cuba, should they succeed in reaching the shore – something that they assure they will only do if the U.S. government gives them the go-ahead.
“We are disappointed because we believed we would have more support from this country’s president. But we are still taking fireworks to be seen from the boardwalk,” Morúa added.
The weather is not on their side. Conditions are unstable and rain is heavy, but that does not frighten them.
“If the captain is experienced, we can face any storm,” said Lázaro Jerry Alboniga, who will be in charge of one of the vessels. So far, an estimated 30 private boats have left for the border between international and Cuban waters.
“No one is asking for money. We are only asking for freedom, and we are here to support our brothers and sisters,” said Joe Gimenez, while waiting for some friends to arrive with a boat from Tampa to join them and head south.
The U.S. Coast Guard expressed support for those who are exercising their fundamental right to freedom of assembly and expression on the island, but discouraged individuals from setting sail, at least without navigational authorization.
Coast Guard Rear Admiral Eric Jones noted that “the crossing is dangerous and relentless” and that in recent weeks at least 20 people have died attempting to cross the Florida Straits, mostly so-called Cuban rafters.
The conditions for people setting out from Florida are different from those leaving Cuba hidden from the regime. For one, the boats are typically better and captains are experienced. In addition, many of them have advised the Coast Guard of their crossing and will have some kind of monitoring.
“We know the Coast Guard will be watching us closely, although I’m not sure to what extent they will be with us,” Captain Alboniga said.
For its part, the Coast Guard is also monitoring the potential for an increase in the number of people trying to reach Florida from Cuba by sea.
“Together with our local, state and federal partners, we are monitoring any activity that may signal an increase in unsafe and illegal migration flows in the Florida Straits,” Jones said in a statement.