2007-07-06.
Cuba Archive
July 6, 2007, Summit, New Jersey.
Among the most flagrant atrocities committed by the Castro regime in its
long history of human rights' abuses, two incidents stand out –the
Canimar River Massacre and the Tugboat Massacre.
Both took place in the month of July and poignantly illustrate the
Cuban leadership's profound disregard for human life and the egregious
violation of the right of Cuba's citizens to leave their country.
On July 6, 1980 three youngsters hijacked an excursion boat that was to
navigate inland along the scenic Canimar river flowing into Matanzas
Bay. Surprised passengers screamed their approval to go to the United
States, but the security guard resisted, shooting at the youngsters, who
wounded then him with firearms clandestinely obtained from their
military service. Concerned for his health, they sent him back to shore
with a passenger who refused to leave.
Alerted authorities ordered a chase. High-speed Cuban Navy patrol boats
fired on the escapees and attempted to sink the vessel. Then, an Air
Force plane overflew the boat and opened fire. Finally, most not yet
wounded or dead, drowned when a special boat used for heavy industrial
work was brought in to ram and sink the vessel.
Though it had capacity for one hundred passengers, there were only ten
survivors. The actual toll of victims was kept secret, but at least 56
victims were known, including four children, ages 3, 9, 11, and 17. No
recovered bodies were handed to the families and communal funerals were
forbidden. The Cuban government claimed it was an accident and survivors
were silenced with threats of imprisonment and kept under surveillance
for years.
Fourteen years later, on July 13, 1994, a group of around seventy,
including many children, boarded the old tugboat "13 de marzo" in the
middle of the night in a planned escape to the United States. As they
made their way out of Havana's harbor, three tugboats that waited in the
dark initiated a chase. Spraying the boat with high pressure water jets,
they ripped screaming children from their parents' arms and swept
passengers off to sea.
Finally, an attacking tugboat dealt the final blow that sank the "13 de
marzo." Passengers who had taken refuge in the cargo hold drowned,
pinned down as they desperately pounded on the walls and the children
wailed in horror. Survivor clung to life in the dark on the high seas,
he three pursuing tugboats going around in circles around them and
creating wave turbulence and eddies for them to drown.
The attack stopped suddenly when a merchant ship with a Greek flag
approached Havana Harbor and Cuban Navy ships moved in to pick up
survivors. Brought to shore, the stunned women and children were
interrogated and sent home. The men were kept in detention for months
and given psychotropic drugs. No bodies of the 37 victims (including 11
children) were returned to their families for burial. Survivors and
relatives of the dead were denied information and put under
surveillance. Many were dismissed from their jobs and systematically
harassed by the authorities.
The Cuban government claimed it was an accident and blamed it on the
escapees and United States' immigration policies. It later transpired
that an infiltrator in the group had helped plan the operation to set an
example with its violent suppression. An international outcry prompted
the government to promise an investigation, but instead it awarded the
head of the operation, tugboat pilot Jesús González Machín, a "Hero of
the Cuban Revolution" medal. Requests by international organizations for
information and redress have all been disregarded.
These and similar tragedies in Cuba remain largely ignored by world
media and public opinion. Yet, the Castro regime has for decades
systematically murdered civilians for trying to escape their country.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, have been killed by government authorities
for attempting to escape by sea, for seeking asylum in foreign
embassies, or for trying to cross into the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo.
Today the U.S. Naval base in Cuba remains sealed off by barbed wire and
mines, with Cuban border guards ready to shoot to kill. Cuba's Penal
Code still punishes attempts to leave the national territory without
government permission with up to twenty years in prison or death by
execution. Over the course of decades, thousands have served prison for
these so-called crimes. Today, a number of political prisoners are
serving very long sentences for attempting to escape the country.
Cuba Archive calls on world governments, international organizations,
and all people of goodwill to hold the Cuban government accountable for
its crimes and to demand respect for the fundamental right of Cuba's
citizens to life, to safety, and to freedom to leave their country at will.
*************
More detailed accounts are available at www.CubaArchive.org:
Canimar River Massacre
http://www.cubaarchive.org/english_version/articles/88/1/The-Canimar-River-Massacre-of-July-6%2C-1980
Tugboat Massacre (with photos of victims)
www.CubaArchive.org/english_version/articles/97/1/The-Tugboat-Massacre
Summary of Documented Victims of Exit Attempts
http://www.CubaArchive.org/english_version/articles/89/1/ Cubans
-killed-for-attempting-to-flee-Cuba
Cuba Archive is an initiative of
Free Society Project, Inc.
P.O. Box 529 / Summit, NJ 07902
Tel. 973.701-0520 / info@CubaArchive.org
www.CubaArchive.org
http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/article.asp?artID=10738
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