Published Thursday, February 22, 2001, in the
Miami Herald
Exile group launches fireworks off Cuban waters
By ALEX VEIGA. Associated Press Writer
MIAMI -- (AP) -- A Cuban exile group launched fireworks off a boat just
outside Cuban waters early today after engine trouble foiled an attempt to do so
earlier in conjunction with a protest in Cuba over food rationing.
Ramon Saul Sanchez, head of Democracy Movement, and other members of his
group stopped in international waters off Havana just before 1 a.m. and set off
the fireworks, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Jim Malcolm said.
The group, shadowed by a U.S. Navy ship and two Coast Guard cutters, headed
back to the lower Florida Keys after nearly an hour-long display, Malcolm said.
No activity by the Cuban coast guard or military was reported.
The exiles and a Cuba-based group had coordinated efforts to protest the
Cuban government's rationing system, Sanchez said.
Sanchez's group, which had originally left the Keys on Wednesday morning,
had planned to be 12 1/2 miles off the coast of Havana by 7 p.m. EST to set off
the $1,500 barrage of fireworks. It was to coincide with some Cubans on the
island banging pots and pans together.
But one of the group's boats had mechanical problems, and had to be towed
back to Marathon by the other boat, Coast Guard spokesman Dana Warr said
Wednesday night.
Sanchez and members of his group then departed again at 3:30 p.m. aboard a
single boat, Warr said.
Lucy Suarez, a spokeswoman for the group, said dissidents in Cuba had been
contacted to let them know the fireworks display was to take place Thursday
morning.
Earlier Wednesday, about 20 of the group's supporters rode in a caravan of
about a half-dozen cars through the streets of Miami's Little Havana, each
banging pots and pans.
Boat heads toward Cuba for protest of food rations
By Jennifer Babson . Jbabson@Herald.Com
MARATHON -- Nine people, most of them members of the anti-Castro Democracy
Movement, piled onto a boat Wednesday afternoon bound for a fireworks protest in
international waters about 15 miles from Havana's coastline.
The group was originally on a two-boat flotilla that left early Wednesday
morning, but was forced to turn back about 12 miles from the Florida Keys when
mechanical troubles disabled one of the boats, the Democracia. After towing the
Democracia back to shore, participants boarded the second boat, the Human
Rights, and departed again at about 3:30 p.m.
"The people took all their stuff, their fireworks, their wreaths, food
and supplies, and they are on their way,'' Coast Guard spokesman Luis Díaz
said.
The Coast Guard was monitoring the voyage closely, said Díaz, and
deployed three cutters to keep an eye on the Human Rights, from which about
$1,500 worth of fireworks were slated to be launched Wednesday night or this
morning.
Originally scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, the fireworks display was
supposed to coincide with a demonstration by Cubans on the island who pledged to
bang pots and pans together, according to Ramón Saúl Sánchez,
head of the Democracy Movement. A similar protest had been planned Wednesday in
Little Havana.
The effort is aimed at protesting the Cuban government's system of food
rationing.
Cuba: Alpha 66 made payments to dissident
By Elaine De Valle . Edevalle@Herald.Com
The Cuban government has accused a Miami exile paramilitary group of making
payments to a dissident who was arrested for allegedly threatening Mexican
diplomats and news organizations on the island.
Cuba's Interior Ministry announced Wednesday the arrest of Elizardo San
Pedro Marín, who allegedly worked for Alpha 66.
A rare statement from Cuba's Interior Ministry said San Pedro had confessed
to sending messages that hinted at actions against Mexico's new envoy to Cuba,
Ricardo Pascoe, viewed as sympathetic to President Fidel Castro's communist
government. Pascoe announced in January that he would close his doors to Cuban
dissidents.
San Pedro allegedly confessed to working for Alpha 66 under the code name "Adrian''
and taking $1,200 from group for his role "terrorizing'' those favoring
ties with the Cuban government, the Communist Party daily Granma said.
Nazario denied working with San Pedro, but admitted sending a telegram. The
Interior Ministry said San Pedro sent it to the Mexican embassy.
Nazario said he sent it to Pascoe and Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda
because Mexico seemed to be softening its stance toward Castro.
"But it was not a threat,'' Nazario insisted.
"We weren't going to do them any harm. We even told them not to be
scared. It was just to call their attention to the matter.''
"Adrian'' does exist, Nazario and other Alpha 66 members say, but he's
not San Pedro. "Adrian'' is a group, they say.
Copyright 2001 Miami Herald | 