U.S. law cited in sea disaster
From Herald Wire Services. Published Wednesday, November
28, 2001 in The Miami Herald
HAVANA -- President Fidel Castro of Cuba led a procession Tuesday of
thousands of people wearing black T-shirts to protest against the U.S. Cuban
Adjustment Act and to mourn 13 children who died last week in a failed effort to
reach the United States by boat.
Wearing his traditional green fatigues, Castro arrived at José Martí
Square outside the U.S. Interests Section in central Havana to deliver a speech
at the end of the ceremony.
An editorial in the official Communist Party daily Granma on Tuesday morning
summoned 300,000 Cubans to the event, which coincides with the 130th anniversary
of the execution of eight Cuban medical students by Spanish troops.
Condemning the drowning of the youngsters, Granma said that the smuggling
attempt was "a monstrous event, spawned by impunity and tolerance, that led
numerous Cuban children to an atrocious death.''
The protest is "an expression of mourning for the innocent children
who, in the horror of scenes that may have been indescribable, saw their short
and happy lives shattered as a consequence of the criminal [immigration] policy
conducted against our country for many years,'' Granma said.
The 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act grants Cubans who enter the United States by
any means immediate residence.
The Cuban government, which maintains the law encourages illegal emigration
to the U.S., refers to it as "the killer law'' every time it blames it for
the death of Cubans who take to the sea in rafts or pay smugglers to take them
to South Florida in speedboats.
U.S. Coast Guard crews on Wednesday stopped searching the Florida Straits
for the 30 Cubans, whose boat capsized in rough seas last weekend. No survivors
have been found.
Family members of the migrants reported the group left Cuba in a speedboat
on Nov. 16.
Monday evening, on the Cuban government's Round Table television program,
moderator Randy Alonso accused Cuban exiles "of trying to use the deaths of
Cuban citizens . . . for their cruel political games.''
Havana first publicly mentioned the reports on Sunday evening, warning the
missing migrants' relatives not to have false hopes about their loved ones'
fate.
Copyright 2001 Miami Herald
Related documents
The Cuban Adjustment Act / U.S. Department of State
Cuba: Right to
residence and movement - OAS
Illegal Exit in
Cuba / Center for a Free Cuba
Personal
Testimony: The sinking of the 13 de Marzo tugboat / Contacto
U.S.
Department of State / Cuba
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