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U.S.
cracks down on smuggling of Cubans
By Laura Wides-Munoz, Associated
Press. May 18, 2007. Yahoo! News.
MIAMI - A man signaled with a flashlight
in the early July morning as his pregnant
wife and 30 other Cubans huddled along the
coast of Matanzas, Cuba. A speedy fishing
boat pulled close to shore and two smugglers
loaded the group aboard.
Then, like thousands of other Cubans who
attempt the trip each year, they prayed
the cramped vessel would make it across
the roughly 150 miles to Key West.
If caught at sea by the Cuban or U.S. coast
guards, they would be returned to the communist
island to be ostracized, denied work, even
imprisoned. If their boat capsized, they
would probably die.
But if they reached Florida, most would
win eventual U.S. citizenship. Under a federal
policy adopted in the mid-1990s, most Cubans
who touch U.S. soil get to stay. And an
increasing number of them - or their U.S.
relatives - are willing to pay up to $10,000
each for the dangerous and sometimes harrowing
trip across the Florida Straits.
Interviews with
U.S. Coast Guard officials and a review
by The Associated Press of court documents
show that from October 2002 through October
2006, the annual number of Cubans attempting
the voyage to Florida or Puerto Rico more
than doubled, reaching 7,027 last year.
Typically, more than half make it.
Many in law enforcement attribute the spike
not to the uncertainty over
Fidel Castro's health but to well-organized
and well-equipped smugglers.
They have turned human cargo into big business.
A go-fast boat costs about $150,000 new,
an investment easily recouped when a boatload
of Cubans can gross $300,000 or more. Also,
the prison term they face if caught is much
less than if they were arrested smuggling
drugs of equal monetary value.
"Somehow, because it's human smuggling,
some individuals would like to think that
this is something different, perhaps more
altruistic or humanitarian. But it's not,"
said U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta,
chief federal prosecutor in Miami. "The
reality is that these human beings are being
killed. They are being killed at the hands
of smugglers who do this for profit, not
for humanitarian reasons."
___
Back on board the go-fast boat, the Cubans
and their smugglers were 10 miles from Florida
when they were met by a U.S. Coast Guard
cutter. Cuban intelligence had tipped off
U.S. officials about the boat's departure,
according to court documents. The Cuban
migrants urged the smugglers to ignore the
Coast Guard's orders to stop. They sped
up, the go-fast boat flying at 50 mph through
the waves.
___
Stopping human smugglers is one of the
few areas in which Havana and Washington
cooperate. And the perpetrators are getting
more sophisticated, armed with GPS navigating
systems and satellite phones.
In response, U.S. officials are stepping
up prosecutions.
Last year, Acosta, a Cuban-American, began
charging suspected smugglers with felonies;
previously, misdemeanor charges were usually
filed when no one was hurt. He is also bringing
more charges against each smuggler, adding
to the potential sentence. In addition,
Acosta is the first U.S. attorney to use
a new law making it a felony to refuse to
stop a vessel or to prevent its boarding.
One major challenge for Acosta is that
few Cubans who have been smuggled into the
U.S. are willing to testify. But he hopes
the threat of a long prison sentence will
pressure low-rung boat crews to take the
stand against the ringleaders.
The crackdown is motivated by more than
just a desire to stop the flow of illegal
immigrants.
"When we intercept a boat at night,
it's dark. We don't know if it's 10 abuelas
(grandmas) on board or 10 terrorists,"
said Zach Mann, a customs spokesman in Miami.
The smugglers are "taking away resources
that could be focused on terrorism."
___
Out at sea, the Coast Guard finally pulled
up against the go-fast boat. An officer
shot out an engine. In the chaos, passenger
Anai Machado Gonzalez, 24, smashed her head
against the side of the boat. Blood seeped
from her temple. She died before she reached
U.S. soil.
The smugglers and the man who flagged them
down would be among the first pinched by
Acosta's new policies. Heinrich Castillo
Diaz and Rolando Gonzalez Delgado both pleaded
guilty in Machado's death and to smuggling.
Amil Gonzalez Rodriguez was convicted on
smuggling conspiracy charges but acquitted
in Machado's death.
Most of the other Cubans were allowed to
come ashore.
___
Critics of U.S. policy toward Cuba question
whether stiffer penalties can help reduce
human smuggling when those who evade the
Coast Guard are rewarded with green cards.
Most illegal immigrants from nearly any
other country are deported if caught.
Even Cubans who serve time in the U.S.
for human smuggling are rarely sent back
to the island for fear they might be tortured.
Amil Gonzalez's lawyer blamed the U.S.
"wet-foot, dry-foot" policy toward
Cubans for the rise in smuggling.
"Basically, if they don't touch land,
it's like a high-seas football game,"
Israel Encinosa said. "Maybe if people
were not allowed to come, there would be
more pressure on the Cuban government."
But Acosta said the penalties can serve
as a deterrent. He is pursuing more than
50 other smuggling cases. Suspected members
of at least two large smuggling rings have
been charged.
___
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Moore, who
oversaw the Matanzas case, lauded the crackdown
as a departure from the prior practice of
filing misdemeanors. He sentenced all three
men to 12 years in prison, nearly twice
the minimum under the sentencing guidelines
and longer than Acosta himself had requested.
___
The number of Cubans trying to cross the
water is down slightly in the fiscal year
that started in October, with 3,181 known
to have attempted the voyage so far. Yet
the portion reaching land has risen to nearly
70 percent.
Officials attribute the overall drop in
part to beefed-up Coast Guard patrols following
Castro's illness and to a crackdown in Cuba.
Acosta said it is too early to tell how
much of a role the stepped-up prosecution
has played.
Authorities blame the rise in landings
on more sophisticated smuggling rings and
the use of boats with greater capacity.
"They smugglers constantly adjust
their tactics to us, as fast as we adjust
to them," Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Chris
O'Neil said.
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