By Bill Douthat,
Palm Beach Post Staff
Writer. Wednesday, June 20, 2001
WEST PALM BEACH -- A dove released as a symbol of peace crashed in a puff of
white feathers.
The peace rally also bombed, drawing less than a dozen people interested in
promoting friendship with Fidel Castro's Cuba.
So began a drive Tuesday to collect medicines and money for Cuba, organized
by a local activist opposed to the U.S. economic embargo on the island.
Wil Van Natta launched the dove at Jose Marti Park on North Flagler Drive as
a gesture of friendship to people in Cuba.
The dove soared skyward, arced left and smashed into the windshield of a
parked truck. It recovered, circling back to the park and flying beak-first into
a light pole, knocking feathers loose before gliding to the grass.
Van Natta, who didn't appear to have seen its wobbly flight, tossed the bird
aloft once more for a video camera. The dove flapped a few times before setting
down a few feet away.
"The bird's hurt. Don't let it fly again," said a construction
worker who saw the dove dive-bomb the windshield. The bird was retrieved after
its second short flight.
Van Natta announced donations of $200 to a shipment of humanitarian supplies
to Cuba, including a $100 check from him.
"We understand that this is largely a gesture, but every single straw
can add up to a bale," said Van Natta, a county lifeguard. He said the
donations will be turned over to Pastors for Peace, a Chicago-based ministry
that sends annual shipments of supplies to Cuba.
Van Natta has protested at Taco Bell on behalf of migrant workers and at the
Donald Trump International Golf Course, which he said destroyed wetlands. He was
ejected from a courtroom last month for disrupting the trial of Nathaniel
Brazill, who was convicted of second-degree murder for killing teacher Barry
Grunow. Van Natta was protesting the decision to try Brazill, who is 14, as an
adult.
Van Natta, who traveled to Cuba last year on a Pastors for Peace mission,
said claims that Cuba violates its citizens' human rights is "poppycock."
"Unlike leaders in this country, Fidel Castro is a wildly popular
figure in Cuba," he said. "He's the George Washington of that country."
Jorge Avellana, a Cuban-American and anti-Castro activist who wandered into
the park out of curiosity, said the dove was sending a message.
"The white dove didn't want to go to Cuba, obviously," he said.
bill_douthat@pbpost.com
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