VERBATIM
A Cuban tugboat, an atrocity at sea
By MARIA C. WERLAU
Below are excerpts from ''Cuba: The Tugboat Massacre of July 13, 1994.''
This is a recent report by Maria C. Werlau of Cuba Archive, a nonprofit
group that documents the human cost of the Cuban Revolution. The report
is at www.cuba archive.org.
In 1994, popular dissatisfaction with the Castro regime had deepened as
Cuba endured a severe economic crisis amid continued repression.
Although the country's laws forbid citizens from leaving without
government authorization and punishes violations with years of prison,
attempts to escape by any means had been growing exponentially. . . .
On the designated date, the group quietly boarded the 13 de Marzo
tugboat in the middle of the night and the motors were started.
Unexpectedly, people who were not on the list showed up, a few others
who were to come did not. . . .
Just as the 13 de Marzo cleared the harbor, two other tugboats that had
been waiting for them in the dark joined the chase. With their water
cannons, they started spraying high-pressure jets at the escaping
vessel. The wooden 13 de Marzo was now being hounded by three modern,
larger and heavier tugboats made of steel. . . .
Although the 13 de Marzo had stopped and signaled its willingness to
surrender and turn back, the relentless attack continued. The adults
brought out the children on deck to see if this would deter the
incessant jet streams and collisions. In desperation, parents held their
children up in the air and pleaded for their lives, putting them in
front of the powerful reflector lights. The attackers disregarded their
cries and continued to bombard the powerless passengers with the high
pressure water. The mighty streams scattered them all over deck, ripped
clothing off and tore children from their parents' arms. Some were swept
into the ocean.
It was around 4:50 a.m. when the tugboat sank seven miles northeast of
Havana harbor. The three boats then began circling the survivors,
creating wave turbulence and eddies for around 45 minutes. It was
obvious they wanted to make sure no one would be left alive to bear
witness to the horror. María Victoria García, who lost her 10-year-old
son, husband and many other close family members, later related:
``After nearly an hour of battling in the open sea, the boat circled
round the survivors, creating a whirlpool so that we would drown. Many
disappeared into the seas . . . We asked them to save us, but they just
laughed.''
Murder was planned
Over time, as more survivors and witnesses left the island and their
accounts were pieced together, it became apparent that the Cuban
government had planned the murder. It was evident that spies had been
infiltrated and offered early and detailed knowledge of the
preparations. Reportedly, once the plot was known, the decision had been
made at the highest levels of government to not foil it by arresting the
organizers or closing the entrance to Havana harbor. Instead, they would
be allowed to steal the tugboat, so it could be sunk and an enduring
lesson could be delivered to prevent further escapes from the island. . . .
On the island, the Cuban government continues to imprison, threaten and
intimidate those who seek to peacefully protest the sinking and remember
those who died, usually in small ceremonies on the anniversary of the
attack. Government-organized mobs, the Rapid Response Brigades,
habitually scream insults and hit participants.
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