Posted on Fri, Aug. 10, 2007
BY TIM CHAPMAN
tchapman@MiamiHerald.com
It's a modern-day love story, Miami style: A man and a woman who had
never met -- except over the Internet -- exchanged a hug Friday morning
in Bill Baggs State Recreation Area shortly after she arrived soggy and
sunburned from Cuba.
''That's my girlfriend!'' said Alex Menendez, about 30 years old, who
showed up about dawn after learning that Yaditza Lopez had arrived at
the park at the far edge of Key Biscayne.
The 22-year-old had arrived before dawn as part of a contingent of 52
Cuban migrants, including men, women and several young children. They
were wet and sunburned but happy to be in South Florida. They said they
had been at sea for three days and came from all over the island.
The migrants landed not far from the park's iconic lighthouse. Some of
them gathered at a pavilion, resting at picnic tables. Others made use
of the beachfront park's outdoor shower heads to freshen up.
The park had not yet opened for the day, but that didn't stop Menendez,
in T-shirt, shorts and designer sunglasses, from showing up in a car
with a friend. He said he had been in contact with Lopez online since
May. His cousin had served as their online matchmaker.
The embrace at the park was short-lived. A representative of the Border
Patrol said that the 52 migrants -- including Lopez -- would have to be
transported to a processing center. But that did not dampen Menendez's
excitement.
Under the U.S. government's wet foot/dry foot policy, Cuban migrants who
make it to American soil are generally allowed to remain in the United
States. Those intercepted at sea are generally turned back.
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