MIGRANTS | RICKENBACKER CAUSEWAY
Reunions make Cubans' trip worth it
Cuban migrants who just arrived on South Florida shores by boat said
deteriorating conditions on the island forced them to flee.
BY ERIKA BERAS
eberas@miamiherald.com
Abdiel Ramos tried to leave Cuba for the United States six times in the
past six months. On Monday, the 24-year-old from Havana finally succeeded.
He was among the 26 Cuban migrants who walked up to the tollbooth at the
western end of the Rickenbacker Causeway around 1:30 a.m.
''That trip was terrible,'' Ramos said. ``But I feel really good right
now.''
The group of 10 men, 10 women and six children was the latest in a wave
of Cuban migrants -- 663 this year -- who have come ashore in South
Florida. The total for 2006 was 1,426.
This was also the third time in three weeks that Cuban migrants landed
near the Rickenbacker Causeway.
After being released later by the U.S. Border Patrol, Ramos said
conditions in Cuba made him keep trying.
''Everyone knows things are bad since Fidel [Castro] got sick,'' he
said. ``There is no food and people are being carted off to prison.''
Ramos had plans to stay with relatives in Kendall for a while, then move
to Tampa and work with some friends.
Ramos also plans to bring his mother to the States one day.
''Not on a boat, though -- nobody should have to live through that,'' he
said.
Waiting to welcome him was his aunt, Acelia Rodriguez.
''I haven't seen him in four years. I've missed him so much,'' she said
as she paced anxiously in a Doral parking lot where most of the migrants
were brought after their release.
14-HOUR DRIVE
Also in the parking lot was Adolfo Gonzalez, 37, who has been in the
United States for five years. He said he got a call Thursday from his
sister in Havana. She told him their mother was on her way.
Gonzalez, who lives in Louisiana, jumped into his Dodge Caravan and
drove the 14 hours to Miami to reunite with his mother, Nilda Sanchez.
''It's been five years since I've seen her,'' he said. ``It's a disaster
over there. When they call, all they say is that every day it gets worse.''
Their reunion was quiet yet moving. After several days at sea, Sanchez
was looking forward to a shower and a meal.
Ernesto Cuesta, assistant director of Cuban/Haitians Program of Refugee
Services at the United Conference of Catholic Bishops, said such
reunions are often emotional.
''You see the desperation in people's faces and you see anxiety and
fear, but you also see happiness,'' he said. ``There is also some
powerlessness. You see in their faces, they've left their homeland.''
Frank Figueroa, program administrator at Church World Service, another
refugee relief agency, agreed.
''Even though I see it every day, it is still emotional,'' he said.
``These people cross the ocean to be here. And a lot of time, they're
scared. They're coming from a regime. They're not trained to talk.''
NOT THIS TIME
Some of the people in the parking lot left without loved ones. Miriam
Delgado came with a group of friends after her uncle called to tell her
he had seen her son among the migrants on the morning news.
Excited, she spent the day driving from agency to agency searching for
her 22-year-old son. It turned out he hadn't been on the boat.
''The next one,'' she said as she walked toward her car. ``Maybe he'll
be on the next one.''
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