Hundreds pay tribute to Castro's victims at Tamiami Park

TAMIAMI PARK
Hundreds pay tribute to Castro's victims at Tamiami Park
Hundreds visited a symbolic cemetery erected yearly at Tamiami Park to
honor those who have died fighting Fidel Castro's government.
Posted on Thu, Feb. 21, 2008
BY YUDY PINEIRO
ypineiro@MiamiHerald.com

Gonzalo Gonzalez Vidal has nowhere to mourn the loss of his brother,
Carlos Gonzalez Vidal, who at 23 was executed by firing squad for
challenging a government during the early years of a revolution.

There's no grave that he knows of. And even if there was one, it would
be hundreds of miles away, at an undisclosed location, in a country he
left long ago: Cuba.

But on the same weekend each February, Gonzalez finds peace at the Cuban
Memorial, a symbolic cemetery Cuban exiles erect at Tamiami Park to
honor victims of Fidel Castro's regime -- mostly political prisoners,
dissidents and Bay of Pigs invasion fighters.

The sixth annual Cuban Memorial was this past weekend. Among 10,000
white foam crosses -- each representing a documented death -- rested one
with the name of Gonzalez's brother. A larger cross symbolized the
hundreds of thousands of unaccounted victims -- many who died at sea.

'For those of us who can never visit our relatives' graves, this is our
way of paying tribute to our loved ones and the sacrifice they made for
the homeland,'' said Gonzalez at a Saturday evening vigil at
Westchester's Tamiami Park, 11201 SW 24th St.

At the ceremony, dozens of exiles hummed the American and Cuban national
anthems, lit candles in memory of lives lost and spoke of a post-Castro
Cuba, which became more poignant four days later when Castro resigned,
almost two years after ceding power to his brother Raúl Castro.

The Rev. Jose Luis Menendez also recited prayers Saturday for Castro's
victims and blessed the field of crosses and area designated for a
permanent monument.

A marble slab stands near the monument's future home. The 50-foot
monument will bear a Cuban flag and granite slabs inscribed with
victims' names. Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe A. Martinez promised it
would be up in time for the next Cuban Memorial.

''It will -- even if I have to build it myself,'' he said.

Exiles have sought to build a permanent memorial for years, but have run
into hurdles. First, they didn't have the money nor the place. Then, in
late 2006, they found hope, after Martinez and county parks officials
announced Tamiami Park would be its home.

Most recently, they ran into several setbacks with Florida International
University, who Martinez said asked the county and exiles to make some
concessions. That has been settled, he said, and now it's simply a
matter of pulling permits and building it.

Someday, Martinez believes, the monument will attract tourists much like
the Holocaust Memorial or the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Whatever happens, friends and families of victims, and Cuban expatriates
will continue to come each February with flowers and other mementos to
lay in front the crosses.

Experts will continue to document lives lost under Castro's regime. And
the group who organizes the Cuban Memorial says it will continue to host
the yearly event.

''This is the least we can do -- pay tribute,'' said Francisco Garcia, a
former political prisoner and Cuban Memorial committee member.

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