| Cuban
Provinces & Cities
|
| Balseros
... Rafters ... |
 |
Thousands
of frustrated Cubans tried, in the last few years, to go on this very
dangerous trip, trough the street of Florida to reach the American
coast by handmade "boats". |
| A
little girl |
Found
after 2 weeks at sea, they became lost on their way to to Key West.
Found
in the Bahama's area. |
|
| Some
get rescued |
 |
If
they are lucky, some boat will pick them up and bring them to Florida
... |
|
Guantanamo |
| ...Some
are found by the US Coast Guard ... ...and they will bring them back
to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Cuban rafters are temporarily
detained at Guantanamo's U.S. naval base in Cuba, after being caught
in the Florida Straits by the U.S. Coast Guard, in their attempt to
flee the Castro regime. |
|
| Coast
Guard |
 |
Some of them
will reach the coast of Key West, after 150 km rafting. And then the
next battle begins... Getting asylum or being sent back to Cuba. |
| Time
line |
- 1980
- Fidel Castro opened Mariel Harbor, and said that everybody who
wanted to leave could go. Hundreds of private boats from Florida
went to Cuba to pick up their relatives. 125,000 people left.
- 1983
- Only 47 Balseros reached the coast of Florida.
- 1991
- A pilot flew back to Cuba, dramatically landed on a highway,
picked up his wife and two sons, and then flew back to the U.S.
- 1993
- Fidel's own daughter (picture), Alina Fernandez Revuelta, escaped
to Spain.
- 1994
- More then 2,000 people a day tried to escape to the U.S.
- 1994
- U.S. enacted a law, The Cuban Adjustment Act, which said that
every Cuban who might reach the shores of America could stay forever.
Today Even today many Cubans endeavor to escape to the USA using
homemade rafts and makeshift vessels in their desperate attempts
to seek freedom.
|
|
|
| Reminding
them |
 |
While
partying in Key West, one is reminded that just across the straits
there are those who are much less fortunate. At the same time ...
In Key West one can find a museum about the Balseros
Hustlers Cubans can sometimes make deals with American 'human brokers'
... Cubans get picked up by boat in Cuba, and these hopeful immigrants
are subsequently transported to Florida ... but ... It sometimes
tragically happens that these vessels are overcrowded and they either
founder or sink outright ... There is drama on the high seas daily
... Rafter's Stories ...
|
| A
lot of them died, and still |
| They
are brave people. Here's a poem that I found on the internet.:
Alejándose de su tierra (Away from their land)
Dejando seres queridos (leaving their loved ones)
Dejando madres e hijos (leaving their mother and sons)
Se lanzó el balsero a la mar (the Balseros went on the Ocean)
Para alcanzar la paz (to reach peace)
Llorando a lágrimas vivas (Crying live tears)
con el dolor en el alma (with all their soul's pain)
prefirió buscar otras tierras (they decided to find other land)
tristes o desoladas (even if sad and lonely)
pero que le dieran libertad (that will set them free)
Piensa el balsero en su madre (The balsero thinks in his mother)
Piensa el hombre en sus hijos (the man thinks in his children)
Sueñan poder un dia abrazarlos (they dream to hug them again some day)
Decirles sin nada por dentro (just to tell them)
"perdóname madre, perdóname hijo" (forgive me mom, forgive me son)
nunca abandoné sus cariños (I never stopped loving you)
solo quise ser libre (I just wanted to be free)
para luchar por el verdadero camino (to fight for the real things)
Es el sentimiento del balsero (This is the balsero's feeling)
Ese que lleva por dentro (the feeling he has inside)
Que lo hace gritar y llorar (that makes him cry and screem)
Pero que lo hace crecer por dentro (but also makes him grow inside)
Es el sentimiento del balsero (This is the balsero's feeling)
que lo hace triunfar en la vida (that makes him success in life)
que lo hace conquistar la victoria (that makes him reach victory)
|
With
special thanks for using these pictures ... if they are yours, please
tell us ...
|
