|
By Ben Iannotta
MARATHON,
Fla., Jan 24 (Reuters) - A Cuban exile group said on Saturday it had launched a
secretive mission to land on Cuban soil as a boat carrying 42 other exiles
headed toward the Communist ruled island for a prayer service to mark Pope John
Paul's visit.
A four-member landing party from the Miami-based exile group Democracy
Movement played a cat-and-mouse game with U.S. authorities, leaving for Cuba by
boat from an undisclosed location as the U.S. Coast Guard fanned out in search.
The group, led by Democracy Movement leader Ramon Saul Sanchez, intends to
land in Cuba without visas to attend the Pope's scheduled Sunday mass in Havana,
a group spokesman said.
"He's (Saul's) exercising our right to enter Cuba,'' spokesman Felipe
Rojas said. "It's as simple as that.''
While Saul's group headed toward the Cuban shore, a Democracy Movement
vessel carrying 42 exiles neared a point in international waters 12.5 miles (20
km) off the Havana coast after setting out from the Florida Keys late on Friday
night.
The 75-foot (22 metres) Sea King was escorted by a U.S. Coast Guard vessel
from its departure point in the Florida Keys. It was the only exile craft to
depart as bad weather forced other boats to pull out of what had been planned as
a "Democracy Flotilla.''
Saul made known weeks ago his plans to land a small party in Cuba without
visas, knowing he faced difficulties on both ends. He said Castro could not stop
him under international laws which dictates that citizens of any country have
the right to enter that country unimpeded.
Cuba's government issued visas to hundreds of Cuban exiles who wanted to
return for the pope's visit. But Saul called the visas "humiliating.''
The landing party also faced opposition from U.S. authorities determined to
avoid an international incident with Cuba since the downing by Cuban jet
fighters of two planes belonging to the Brothers to the Rescue organization as
they searched for refugees in the Florida Straits in February 1996.
Last July the Coast Guard seized Democracy Movement's lead vessel, the
Democracia as it left Key West because Saul would not state definitively that he
would not enter Cuban territory.
The seizure was made under a presidential decree giving the Coast Guard
broad powers over vessels leaving a special "security zone'' in southern
Florida.
Rojas, the Democracy Movement spokesman, said Saul's landing party had
departed on Saturday from outside the security zone. Coast Guard officials were
uncertain as to whether they could legally stop the exiles if they found them.
"That is one of the things that the Coast Guard lawyers in Miami and in
Washington are reviewing right now.'' Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Marcus
Woodring said.
Democracy Movement members said they supported the Pope's visit to Cuba and
hoped all would be peaceful.
"We are trying in every way not to mar the Pope's visit. It is the
single most important event to happen to Cuba in 40 years,'' said Pedro Gomez,
44, a member of the Movement's governing board.
The Sea King was scheduled to make the 90-mile (145-km) crossing and arrive
at a location off Cuban waters before noon on Saturday. Members plan to listen
to the Pope's mass at Santiago via radio and to lay wreaths for political
prisoners in Cuban jails.
Saturday's prayer flotilla will be the group's 13th trip. During a flotilla
in 1995, a Cuban patrol boat clashed with the group's lead vessel when it
attempted to enter Cuban waters. REUTERS
10:56 01-24-98 |