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By Ken Thomas. Associated Press Writer.Posted on Thu, Feb.
28, 2002 in The Miami Herald
MIAMI - (AP) -- Cuban exile leaders Thursday were closely monitoring reports
from Havana, where a group of asylum-seeking Cubans were occupying the Mexican
Embassy and threatening to jump from the roof if police tried to apprehend them.
Many saw the situation as a possible foreshadowing of the 1980 storming of
the Peruvian Embassy in Havana by Cubans anxious to flee the island. The
infamous Mariel boatloaft soon followed, flooding Florida with 125,000 refugees.
''It's just like the Mariel thing -- a small group takes action and then all
this follows,'' said Jose Basulto, founder of exile group Brothers to the
Rescue. "This may be the beginning of all of the situations to take
place.''
City and Miami-Dade County police said there were no early reports of
demonstrations in Florida. Many residents were also monitoring local news and
radio reports, which were broadcasting information about the situation.
A hijacked bus crashed into the gates of the Mexican Embassy late Wednesday
and about 20 Cubans rushed inside the building. Later, more than a dozen stood
on the roof shouting anti-Fidel Castro slogans and promising to jump if police
came after them.
Castro's government Thursday accused the U.S. government's Miami-based Radio
Marti of provoking the embassy occupation by repeatedly broadcasting statements
made in Miami by Mexican Foreign Secretary Jorge Castaneda, which it said were
interpreted as "an open invitation to occupy the embassy of Mexico in
Cuba.''
Castaneda said Tuesday during the dedication of the Cultural Institute of
Mexico in Miami "the doors of the Mexican embassy are open to all Cuban
citizens, just as are those of Mexico.''
Leobardo Rueda, a Radio Marti spokesman, declined immediate comment about
the Cuban government's accusations.
Joe Garcia, executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation,
said the embassy occupation was an "indication of the close relationship
(Mexican President Vicente Fox) has with the opposition in Cuba.''
Garcia said the leadership in Miami was calling for calm. The powerful exile
organization denounced comments by the Cuban government that blamed Radio Marti
for inciting the embassy occupation.
''This is created by Cuba. Make no mistake about it,'' Garcia said.
Members of the Cuban Liberty Council in Miami issued an appeal to Fox,
asking the government to respect the Cuban citizens right to seek political
asylum and assure their safety.
''Under no circumstances should they be handed over to Cuban authorities in
whose hands they will face brutal reprisals,'' said the council, formed by
people who recently broke away from CANF, seen by some exiles as softening its
stance against the Cuba government.
Basulto called the occupation "a natural response from the people who
can interpret any and every sign from the outside of the possibility of being
free.''
''These type of things will likely occur in the future with more frequency
because of the worsening conditions in the island,'' Basulto said.
Basulto and others noted the similarity to the circumstances that led to the
Mariel boatlift in 1980, when a dispute over Cubans occupying the Peruvian
Embassy led Cuba to withdraw its guards, leading to about 10,000 people to flood
the mission grounds.
The 1980 occupation of that embassy began when six people crashed a bus into
the gate and sought asylum.
Castro then opened the port of Mariel, and 125,000 Cubans fled to the United
States in a chaotic boat exodus. The occupation of Peruvian embassy began when
six people crashed a bus into the gate and sought asylum.
''We're watching the situation closely,'' Basulto said. | 
