Thread: Cuba blames US government for 31 Cubans lost at sea

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2005/08/29/blames.shtml

Cuba blames US government for 31 Cubans lost at sea
Monday, August 29, 2005
HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Cuba has blamed US immigration laws for 31 Cuban migrants being lost at sea for more than a week, presumed dead.

"We hold the US government responsible for the death of 31 people... and once again call on US authorities to put an end to people smuggling organized and financed from the United States," said an official statement read on television late Thursday.

The US Coast Guard on Wednesday suspended its search for the 31 Cubans who went missing after their 28-foot boat capsized last week between Cuba and Florida. The Cubans were apparently trying to illegally reach US shores.

A merchant vessel had rescued two women and a man on Sunday, five days after the accident. The survivors, who were taken to a Cuban port, said 31 others were in the boat when it capsized.

The US Coast Guard said it found a sole lifejacket and a speedboat registered in Florida, where it was towed as part of the investigation.

The Cuban government statement said the three survivors had testified that 32 passengers and two crew members were aboard the boat.

According to the testimony, the statement said, "after sailing some 20 nautical miles, the boat, designed for a maximum of 10 people but which was carrying three times that number, stopped when the engines overstrained and the rudder broke."

On August 17, the statement added, "the boat, because of its excessive weight, logically began taking water and the two boatmen who drove it forced the passengers to jump over the side, causing general confusion."

The boat capsized when the people pressed to one of its sides and everybody fell overboard, the statement said.

The Cuban Border Guard service searched for the victims with the help of the US Coast Guard which was alerted to the accident, the statement said.

"No more survivors among the passengers and (people) traffickers have been found," it added.

"Cuban authorities have repeatedly warned the government of the United States of America on the growing criminal activity of people smuggling between Cuba and the United States, which is strongly enticed by the dirty and unscrupulous politic of the US government," the statement added.

According to US Coast Guard statistics, more than 1,800 Cubans have been caught in the high seas this year, the highest figure since 1994 when more than 30,000 Cubans were intercepted trying to reach the US coast.

You know, I'm losing my "touchy feely" feelings.

Foreign leaders should take care of their own people, we don't want anymore here.