CUBAN LIVES ARE AT RISK IN THE HANDS OF HUMAN SMUGGLERS

Overcrowded go-fast boats invite disaster
OUR OPINION: CUBAN LIVES ARE AT RISK IN THE HANDS OF HUMAN SMUGGLERS
Posted on Thu, Jan. 03, 2008

Message to all those desperate to reunite with loved ones from Cuba: If
you love your family, think twice before you entrust their lives to
human smugglers. Don't pay tens of thousands of dollars to people who
make a fast buck from desperate families. Too often, smugglers oversell
seats, pack go-fast boats and provide unsafe vessels. The risk of
disaster is all too great.

$10,000 per person

The latest tragedy off Cuba's coastline serves as a cautionary example.
The boat foundered last week shortly after departing. Cuban authorities
reported two passengers had drowned and nine survived. Twenty-six
persons were detained by Cuban authorities in connection with the
attempt to flee the island. One source in Cuba said that a South Florida
smuggler organized the trip to bring his girlfriend to the United States.

While full details of this incident are not known, the outline is
familiar. Human smugglers charge upward of $10,000 per person. Some may
do so to finance the trip for relatives. That doesn't justify an illegal
operation or putting people in danger.

As U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said, most smugglers simply enrich
themselves by ''exploiting the suffering of the divided Cuban
families.'' Whatever the intention, the results can be deadly. Go-fast
boats are often crowded past capacity and don't carry enough life vests.
Cubans, including children, arrive dehydrated, sunburned, injured --
even dead. Others are repatriated by the U.S. Coast Guard. People in
boats captured by Cuban authorities end up in jail.

We understand the desperation of Cuban families that have been kept
apart for years. The regime still bars people from leaving the island
without its approval. Fidel Castro's lingering ill health has introduced
great uncertainty. The bankrupt economy isn't improving. If anything,
healthcare, housing and repression are worse. After five decades, Cubans
are tired of waiting for better.

Playing for keeps

U.S. curbs on family visits, which brought hope and cash to people
starved of both, haven't helped. Legally immigrating to the United
States isn't easy, either. The adult sons of one U.S. citizen just got
their visas after waiting 10 years. Tens of thousands of Cubans have
come of age without the chance because the regime hasn't allowed a U.S.
visa lottery in 10 years. The result is an increase in the number of
Cubans leaving the island by whatever means necessary.

Nevertheless, waiting is better than risking lives on the high seas.
Coast Guard Rear Admiral David. K. Kunkel called on families here to
denounce the illegal boat trips and human smugglers -- and he is right.
Like the balseros who risked the sharks and storms, Cubans on go-fast
smuggling boats are playing for keeps.

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