[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 141 (Monday, October 3, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
        CONDEMNING SINKING OF TUGBOAT ``13TH OF MARCH'' BY CUBA

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 279) condemning the July 13, 
1994, sinking of the 13th of March, a tugboat carrying 72 unarmed Cuban 
citizens, by vessels of the Cuban Government, as amended.
  The clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 279

       Whereas there are credible reports that on July 13, 1994, 
     vessels of the Cuban Government fired high-pressure water 
     hoses, repeatedly rammed, and deliberately sank the ``13th of 
     March'', a tugboat carrying 72 unarmed Cuban citizens;
       Whereas approximately 40 of the men, women, and children 
     passengers on the ``13th of March'' drowned as a result of 
     the actions of the Cuban Government, including over 20 
     children aboard;
       Whereas President Clinton deplored the sinking of the 
     ``13th of March'' as ``another example of the brutal nature 
     of the Cuban regime'';
       Whereas on August 20, 1994, the President pledged that 
     ``The United States will continue to bring before the United 
     Nations and other international organizations evidence of 
     human rights abuses, such as the sinking of the tugboat `13th 
     of March.' Meanwhile, we will pursue this matter with vigor 
     and determination.'';
       Whereas all of the male survivors of the ``13th of March'' 
     have been imprisoned by the Cuban Government;
       Whereas the freedom to emigrate is an internationally 
     recognized human right and freedom's fundamental guarantor of 
     last resort; and
       Whereas the Cuban Government, by prohibiting the existence 
     of a free press and by jamming TV and Radio Marti, denies the 
     Cuban people for the right of free access to information, 
     including information about this tragedy: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the Congress--
       (1) condemns the Cuban Government for deliberately sinking 
     on July 13, 1994, the ``13th of March'', a tugboat carrying 
     72 unarmed Cuban citizens, causing the death of approximately 
     40 Cuban citizens, including over 20 children;
       (2) urges the President to direct the United States 
     Representative to the United Nations to urge the United 
     Nations Security Council to adopt a resolution that--
       (A) condemns the sinking of the ``13th of March''; and
       (B) provides for a full internationally supervised 
     investigation of the incident;
       (3) urges the President to direct the United States 
     Representative to the United Nations to urge the United 
     Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate the 
     sinking of the ``13th of March''; and
       (4) urges the Cuban Government--
       (A) to release from prison and cease intimidation measures 
     against all survivors of the sinking of the ``13th of 
     March'';
       (B) to identify all individuals missing from such sinking;
       (C) to recover the bodies of the dead from such sinking; 
     and
       (D) to return such bodies to their families so that these 
     men, women, and children may have appropriate burial 
     services.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey [Mr. Menendez] will be recognized for 20 minutes, and the 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Smith] will be recognized for 20 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Menendez].
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. MENENDEZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, today all people of conscience, join in 
condemning the outrageous act of brutality committed on July 13 off the 
coast of Havana, Cuba by the Government of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
  My colleagues, this vote is about Fidel Castro's Tiananmen Square. In 
the early morning hours of July 13, Cuban Government boats chased and 
deliberately killed up to 40 Cuban citizens, on a tugboat named the 
13th of March, fleeing the horror of Castro's Cuba.
  A group of 72 unarmed and innocent civilians were fired upon by 
Castro's thugs with water cannons. They were hosed down so hard that 
many flew off the boat and drowned! Women and children were among those 
killed. Desperate mothers held up children in plain view of the 
authorities. They believed that the savagery would stop, if only their 
pursuers saw that there were children on board. But they were wrong. 
The fierce thrust of pressure hoses continued unabated. Children ages 
10 and under slipped from their mothers' arms and into the sea to die! 
Even a 4 month-old baby was among them! A 4 month-old baby.
  Eventually, after being rammed by Cuban Government tugboats, the 13th 
of March capsized amidst a whirlpool, throwing the rest of those aboard 
off. I denounced this act on the House floor as soon as it became clear 
that it was an act of cold-blooded murder perpetrated by Fidel Castro's 
henchman.
  In acts of officially sanctioned terror, there are often courageous 
survivors. One woman, Ms. Maria Victoria Garcia Suarez, survived to 
tell about the horror that took place that morning on the high seas. In 
an incredible display of courage, she defied the regime and told 
foreign reporters in detail--including a reporter from Radio Marti from 
whom the world received other vital information--how she lost her 
husband, her 10 year-old son, three uncles, and two brothers. She and 
her son used the floating cadaver of a woman to remain afloat. But her 
son could not hold on; he lost his grip, and he drowned.
  The cynicism and utter cruelty of this act is highlighted by the 
method that the Cuban Government chose for this death chase. Rather 
than stopping those who fled at the coast, Castro's thugs allowed them 
to go 7 miles offshore--45 minutes from the coast. Then they went for 
the kill. In the words of Janet Hernandez Gutierrez, 19, another 
survivor, quote:
  ``They simply let us exit the bay and they attack us at 7 miles, 
where there would be no witnesses. You know that in the open sea there 
are no witnesses.''
  But, much to Castro's dismay, there were survivors on the open seas 
that morning. They have told the world about this act of murder. 
President Clinton and Secretary Christopher have called it an ``example 
of the brutal nature of Castro's regime.'' The House Foreign Affairs 
Committee last week voted unanimously to condemn the Cuban Government 
for this massacre. And the resolution now comes before the full House. 
It puts Congress on record as a voice of conscience on this matter:
  First, it condemns the Cuban Government for its deliberate sinking of 
the 13th of March tugboat.
  Second, it urges the President to direct the U.S. Representative to 
the United Nations to urge the U.N. Security Council to adopt a 
resolution that condemns the sinking of the tugboat; and that provides 
for an internationally-supervised investigation of the incident. It 
also urges the Cuban Government to do the following: release from 
prison, and cease to intimidate, all survivors of the sinking; identify 
all individuals from the sinking; and, recover and return the bodies of 
the dead to their families so that these men, women, and children may 
have appropriate burial services.
  Finally, the resolution urges the President to direct the U.S. 
Representative to the United Nations to urge the U.N. High Commissioner 
for Human Rights to investigate the sinking of the 13th of March.
  It is very distressing that any government, including Fidel Castro's, 
can get away with such cold-blooded murder. That is why I introduced 
this resolution.
  So far, the Cuban dictatorship has responded in several ways to the 
incident:
  First, it stated the day after the incident--only after the brave 
survivors had spoken up--that the massacre was the fault of a group of 
``anti-social individuals.'' And incredibly, the Castro regime declared 
the massacre an accident, and even congratulated itself for not killing 
the 31 survivors! To this day, they have expressed no regret for the 
loss of life.
  Fortunately, the conscience of the Archbishop of Havana, Jaime 
Ortega, compelled him to state that the sinking of the tugboat was ``in 
no way accidental.'' The Archbishop also stated that, quote:
  ``The violent and tragic events that produced the sinking of a boat 
where so many of our brothers and sisters lost their lives are, 
according to accounts given by survivors, of a roughness that can 
scarcely be imagined.''
  As some of us know, nothing ever goes wrong in Cuba without Castro 
and his puppets blaming the United States. Predictably, Castro blamed 
the United States for the massacre.
  Raul Castro called this an American ``anti-Cuba campaign,'' and 
``interference by the United States in Cuba's internal affairs.'' Yes, 
you heard correctly: it is America's fault that Castro and his henchmen 
committed a massacre of 40 innocent men, women, and children on the 
high seas.
  The Castro dictatorship claims that it, quote: ``thoroughly 
investigated the event and exhaustively informed its public of how the 
tragic events occurred.'' If this were not the tragedy that it was, 
that claim would be laughable. The fact of the matter is that no one 
outside of the Castro regime has seen any report. The human rights 
group Human Rights Watch/Americas states that, quote:
  ``Cuba continues to deny Human Rights Watch/Americas' request to see 
the official results of the government's official investigation.''
  Finally, the Castro dictatorship has also clearly demonstrated that 
it fears the wrath of its own people by refusing to list who was killed 
in the massacre or to recover the bodies of those who died on the ocean 
floor. No one outside the dictatorship knows exactly who was on the 
boat. That it is why in the resolution we ask that the government 
release a list of the victims and recover and return to the families 
the bodies of the dead.
  My colleagues, the cold war has indeed ended. But it is still winter 
in Havana. The miserable and oppressive climate in tropical Cuba will 
persist as long as we are silent on atrocities such as this. Let us 
stop turning a blind eye to that fact. I ask you to join with the 
Archbishop of Havana and freedom-loving people throughout the world in 
taking the Castro government to task for this act of murder.

                              {time}  1620

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Diaz-Balart] who has been an 
outspoken advocate for human rights worldwide, but has been effective 
and particularly tenacious when it comes to the abuses being committed 
by the Castro regime.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey 
for yielding me the time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution submitted to the 
Congress by the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Menendez] 
and join, in addition to the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Menendez] 
and the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Smith] the gentlewoman from 
Florida [Ms. Ros-Lehtinen] the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Porter Goss, 
the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Torricelli] and so many others who 
have spoken out with so much vigor and decency and compassion on this 
tragic incident which I think illustrates perhaps more than any other 
incident can the nature of the brutal regime that is in power in that 
island only 90 miles from our coast.
  This incident that this resolution condemns and the Congress will 
condemn today was one of the truly brutal massacres in this century. 
Certainly I recall very few more extraordinarily brutal massacres in 
the history of this hemisphere and, of course, it was accomplished, it 
was committed by a regime that is characterized by many crimes, a 
regime that is characterized by drug trafficking, a regime, many high 
officials of which have been indicted by U.S. attorneys. There is a 
draft indictment of the brother of the dictator, of Raul Castro, a 
draft indictment by the U.S. attorney for the southern district of 
Florida. There are indictments of other high officials of that 
dictatorship, a dictatorship what has been renowned and continues to 
train terrorists for evil acts throughout the world, a dictatorship 
that just weeks ago engaged in overt and obvious emigration blackmail 
to force our Government to sit at the table with it and to enter into a 
negotiated settlement by which we asked the dictator to do what we go 
to condemn it years after year in Geneva for, and that is violating 
article 13 of the charter of the universal declaration of human rights 
that does not permit nations to prohbit citizens for leaving their own 
countries.
  It is a regime that harbors fugitives from U.S. law and justice, 
beginning with the de facto minister of crime of the Castro 
dictatorship, fugitive from U.S. law, a renowned criminal named Robert 
Vesco, a regime that engages in environmental recklessness, that is 
drilling like madmen, they are drilling like madmen 90 miles from our 
shores for oil to desperately keep alive an economy that has been 
utterly destroyed by the dictatorship.
  It is a regime that threatens us with Chernobyl-style nuclear 
powerplants that it continues to build despite the urging, repeated 
urging of members of the international community, and more than 
anything else, it is a regime characterized by murder, and this murder 
is perhaps the murder that has shocked the conscience most not only of 
the people of Cuba but of those who are allies of freedom and democracy 
for the people of Cuba, the murder of over 40 innocent men, women, and 
children.

                              {time}  1630

  This weekend when I was at home, I was reading a series of articles 
by a Pulitzer Prize winner, in Miami, and she just visited the base, 
the naval base in Guantanamo, and there she talked; you know, there are 
30,000 refugees there, Mr. Speaker, that were caught up and had become 
pawns in this tragedy between the Castro government and our Government 
as a consequence of the immigration crisis of this last summer, and 
they are there, and they wait and wait and wait. They are told they 
have to wait indefinitely there, and they are not even given the right 
to seek political asylum as is required by the convention on refugees 
for every human being. Every human being has the right to seek 
political asylum.
  The 30,000 Cuban refugees languishing in the base in Guantanamo are 
not even being given the right to seek political asylum.
  This Pulitzer Prize winner, Liz Balmaseda, interviewed a 7-year-old 
boy named Sergio Perodin, Jr. This 7-year-old boy is a survivor of the 
massacre of July 13. His mother, Pilar Alamanza Romero, and his 11-
year-old brother, Yasser Perodin, they went down. They sunk with the 
13th of March on July 13. They drowned. And so Sergio today is at Camp 
Mike in Guantanamo after his mother and his brother drowned with the 40 
others who were massacred by the Castro regime.
  Liz Balmaseda writes the boy speaks little; he keeps the tragic 
sequences of July 13 inside, letting them loose only in fitful sleep. 
Like everybody else, he waits.
  Well, the Congress cannot wait any longer to condemn the massacre of 
July 13. As the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Menendez] stated, the 
Catholic Church, in a courageous manner within Cuba, stated and 
described the nature of the brutality, and it has been condemned, but 
it has not been condemned enough by the international community.
  Hopefully today a positive and very important step, a just and proper 
and important step will be taken by this Congress in condemning the 
massacre, the brutality committed by the Castro regime on July 13 when 
it sank the tugboat named the 13th of March with 40 innocent men, 
women, and children.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
distinguished gentleman from New York [Mr. Engel] who has often and 
strongly been a voice in behalf of human rights and democracy in Cuba.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman who has really led the 
fight against dictatorship and repression on the island of Cuba.
  Mr. Speaker, once again Castro has shown his stripes in one of the 
most brutal assaults on innocent civilians in this hemisphere; a 
boatload of 72 Cuban refugees was sunk on July 13 when Cuban Government 
ships rammed their vessel and fired high-pressure water cannons at 
them.
  Shortly after it happened, I remember discussing this with the 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Menendez], the gentleman from Florida 
[Mr. Diaz-Balart], and the gentlewoman from Florida [Ms. Ros-Lehtinen], 
who could not believe there was such lack of reporting of this horrific 
incident in the American press and, indeed, the world press. One would 
really wonder as to why there would be an attempt to try to hush this 
up.
  There was a report in the Miami Herald which said 7 miles from shore 
the boat was met by Cuban firefighting vessels, and reports indicated 
that people were sent flying overboard and slamming against walls and 
railings as powerful hoses shot their water against the tugboat.
  In the end, more than 30 people died before the survivors were 
rescued.
  Mr. Speaker, 1 month Mr. Castro kills dozens of refugees escaping his 
authoritarian government, and the next month he sends thousands of boat 
people on a dangerous voyage to the shores of the United States. These 
incidents should dispel any notion that Castro has any sense of decency 
or any ounce of compassion for his people.
  To those who would say that we ought to normalize relations with this 
brutal, Stalinist regime, I would say that not until the political 
pluralism comes to Cuba should we even think about it.
  It is really amazing to me that the governments of Eastern Europe, 
the Communist governments of Eastern Europe, have long ago fallen by 
the wayside. There are very, very few Stalinist repressionist regimes 
in the world, but Castro is still there; the aging dictator is still 
there in Havana. It seems to me he has to go and get out of the way and 
let democracy return to Cuba.
  I am, therefore, proud to add my voice in support of H. Con. Res. 
279, which condemns Cuba for the killings of July 13, and I would like 
to once again thank my friend and colleague, the gentleman from New 
Jersey [Mr. Menendez], for offering this resolution and for his 
leadership on this issue.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from Florida [Mr. Goss].
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 279, and I 
thank the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey for yielding me this 
time.
  I also want to commend the Committee on Foreign Affairs for this 
resolution. It condemns the brutal and deadly incident in Castro's Cuba 
this summer we have been hearing about. It also remembers those who 
were deliberately murdered. Those are strong words, but that is what 
happened on the tugboat the 13th of March by Fidel Castro's goons.
  While many individual Americans, I know, have mourned this particular 
tragic incident and the deaths involved, and some are in my communities 
in south Florida, some of the kinfolk, the July incident involving the 
shooting of the Cuban tugboat carrying refugees was actually pretty 
much unnoticed. It was largely unremarked by the national press and by 
the Clinton administration.
  It has been puzzling to understand why that went on for so long. It 
was not actually until we had to go to the bargaining tables with Fidel 
Castro to seek an end to what we euphemistically called irregular 
departures of Cuban citizens that we started to hear more about this, 
regrettably, under that agreement we came away with after the Clinton 
administration bargained with Castro in New York. I am afraid the 
administration has come up one more time with a short-term quick fix 
rather than the long-term policy for the genuine change we all know we 
need.
  The agreement actually took the immigration pressure off the State of 
Florida for a minute, and we in Florida are thankful for that in terms 
of the disorder that was going on. But it does not get to the root of 
the problem, and the root of the problem is Castro himself, and 
everybody knows it.
  With each day that passes, Cuba's economy is closer to tumbling down 
around Fidel. We all know that, too.
  I think at this time a stepped-up embargo and a commitment from our 
allies to cut off Castro's economic lifeblood would solve the refugee 
problem for good. I do not think Castro has ever hesitated to exploit 
American weakness. On the other hand, I think we have hesitated far too 
long to snap the weak link of Castro's regime, and that is his 
faltering economy, a any observer knows today.
  We here are urging that we condemn an act of repression and remember 
those Cubans who died seeking a better life in America, and as has been 
so poignantly pointed out by the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. 
Menendez] and the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Diaz-Balart] and all 
others who are involved, we are talking about women, children, and 
innocent victims just trying to get away from the problems of a gone-
wrong experiment in Marxist Fidel-land.
  I think we have got to start thinking about how we are going to avoid 
these in the future. These are going to happen again sadly enough, and 
the bottom line I think for anybody who has looked at this program is 
that it is time for Castro to go.
  We can pass this resolution here in the United States Congress, but 
it is not going to mean very much unless the President of the United 
States follows through with some get-tough action, and I hope this will 
be the trigger that causes that to happen.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution.
  I want to thank my good friend, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. 
Menendez], for offering this. I am very proud to be a cosponsor.
  It is a very important resolution. I hope it will have the full 
support of the House of Representatives.
  Mr. Speaker, this summer the waters around the island of Cuba, which 
have often been the setting of tragedy, but a March day was the setting 
for an unspeakable crime; the July 13 massacre and premeditated 
drowning of approximately 40 Cubans was yet another example of the 
brutality of the Cuban thugs.
  For over 30 years the lives of freedom-loving Cubans have been 
snuffed out by Fidel Castro and the people who work for him in every 
sort of manner. This time the water cannon was the weapon of choice.
  Castro's abominable human rights record is replete with massacres, 
torture, imprisonment, and terror. Tens of thousands risk their lives 
to escape with unseaworthy vessels. They often commandeer airplanes to 
the Florida Keys. They often defy authorities with the power to 
imprison them when they come forward to tell the truth about Castro.

                              {time}  1640

  I remember reading and being moved to tears by the book ``Against all 
Hope,'' by Armando Valladarres, who served as our ambassador to the 
United Nations Human Rights Commission which met in Switzerland.
  That book clearly demonstrated and showed the kind of repression that 
is commonplace in Cuba.
  Mr. Speaker, in the early hours of July 13, about 70 men, women, and 
children aboard the wooden vessel which became known as the 13th of 
March tug boat steamed out of Havana harbor into international waters. 
This departure had been detected by Cuban port authorities.
  Mr. Speaker, the pursuing tugs knocked the passengers overboard with 
high-pressure water cannons and then rammed the wooden vessel until it 
broke apart and sank. Many passengers went down with the tug boat. The 
death toll, as we all know now, was about 40, including about 20 
children.
  Today we pay honor and respect to those lives which were lost and 
extend condolences to the surviving family members. The House of 
Representatives is poised today to go down on record against this 
terrible and heinous act committed by the Cuban government.
  We also seek action by our President to pursue a United Nations-
supervised investigation into this terrible incident.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a very important resolution, and again I hope it 
has the full support of the U.S. House of Representatives.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remaining time.
  Mr. Speaker, one would think that people of conscience everywhere 
would respond with outrage to this heinous act.
  One would think that the editorial boards of our national media would 
have immediately responded with horror and put it in print with the 
same conviction that they ask for a lifting of the unilateral U.S. 
trade embargo on Castro, as if removing that measure would transform 
this brutal dictator.
  One would think that the international community would uniformly 
respond with indignation.
  One would think that those countries such as Mexico, Spain, and 
Canada, who are so eager to make a quick, cheap buck in Castro's Cuba 
would express their indignation by withdrawing their bloodied 
investment money from Castro's coffers.
  One would think so. But sadly, tragically, their response has been 
silence. Deafening Silence.
  I ask: What will it take?
  What will it take for the United States Government to act as 
forcefully with the Castro dictatorship as it has with the regimes of 
Haiti or racist South Africa?
  What will it take for the international community to remove the rose-
colored glasses through which it incredibly still views Castro's 
dictatorship?
  What will it take for the world to acknowledge that in Cuba the 
fundamental problem at hand is not U.S. policy, but the simple fact 
that there remains in power the Stalin, the Kim II-Song, the Ceaucescu 
of the Caribbean?
  What will it take to get the lives of 40 men, women, and children 
remembered? How much more cruelty will have to come out of Fidel Castro 
before the world responds with outrage? How much? I sincerely hope that 
it does not take another brutal act such as this.
  Let me take just a moment to talk about America's perspective toward 
the Castro dictatorship. Mr. Speaker, no country on this planet has 
been so supportive of democracy and human rights throughout the world 
than has the United States of America. No country on this planet has 
been a stronger opponent of tyranny and oppression worldwide than has 
the United States of America. No people have embraced the cause of 
those who have been victimized by Communist dictatorships than have the 
American people. No people have been as supportive of the oppressed 
people of Cuba than have the American people. The American people 
should be proud of that. As an American of Cuban descent, I certainly 
am.
  But it is a shame, a terrible shame and disgrace, that some of our 
own allies throughout the world have not stood in solidarity with the 
people of Cuba at the time of their most critical need and terrible 
suffering. History will record this.
  There are over one million Cuban-Americans in this country. Each and 
every one of them will never forget that in their time of desperation, 
the American people were there. Each and every one of them will never 
forget that when it came time to denounce the brutal Castro 
dictatorship, when it came time to say no to Fidel Castro, America was 
there--and always has been.
  Mr. Speaker, today, once again, the American people, through their 
elected representatives are there: they are there to speak out loudly 
in behalf of freedom and boldly against the continuing brutality of the 
dictatorship of Fidel Castro. Fidel Castro may not like it; Fidel 
Castro's allies may not like it; and Fidel Castro's friends may not 
like it: but that has never stopped the American people from standing 
up for what is right, and it won't stop them now.
  One of the survivors of the tugboat sinking, Janet Hernandez 
Gutierrez, asked the following of Castro's thugs at Villa Marista, 
state security headquarters, when she was taken in for questioning, 
quote.

       I asked them in Villa Marista that what will become of 
     those responsible for sinking us, the murderers of our 
     children and relatives. Because there are children who lost 
     their mothers. My nephew, for example. He knows he lost her, 
     because that is the saddest part, that he knows he lost her. 
     And he asks me in a childlike manner--I wish he were here 
     because he is a much better witness than I because a child is 
     worth so much--he asks why the frogmen who dive to put fish 
     in the aquarium--why can't they recover his mother and his 
     little brother.

  Sadly, we cannot tell Ms. Hernandez what will become of the 
murderers. We cannot return her nephews' mother and sister to him. But 
we can condemn this massacre and let the world know about it. That is 
the purpose of this resolution. Let us all, as citizens of the greatest 
nation in the world, denounce the brutal massacre of 40 men, women, and 
children by the dictatorship of Fidel Castro. Let us never cease to 
condemn human rights violations whenever and wherever they occur.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit the following documents for the Record:

  Statement by Christine Shelly, acting Spokesman, Department of State


                        cuba: sinking of tugboat

       Cuban government vessels fired high-pressure water hoses at 
     the tugboat ``13th of March'' in an attempt to stop those 
     aboard the vessel from fleeing Cuba on July 13. These vessels 
     are also reported to have rammed the ``13th of March'' in an 
     attempt to stop it. An official Cuban government statement 
     admitted that there was a collision as these pursuing vessels 
     maneuvered to intercept the ``13th of March,'' causing it to 
     sink. Thirty-one people were reported rescued, [with perhaps 
     forty others--including many children--having drowned in the 
     incident.] There have now been reports that mourners are 
     being harassed or detained by authorities.
       We continue to receive information from survivors and next 
     of kin that this was not an accident. We support the plea of 
     the Archbishop of Havana for a full investigation of the 
     tragedy, and call on the Cuban government to cease such 
     violent acts against its own citizens.
                                  ____



                                          Department of State,

                               Washington, DC, September 20, 1994.
     Hon. Lee Hamilton,
     Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs,
     House of Representatives.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter is to express our support 
     for H. Con. Res. 279, which condemns the July 13, 1994, 
     sinking of the ``13th of March'', a tugboat carrying Cuban 
     citizens.
       We fully share the sense of outrage expressed in that 
     resolution over the incident, the loss of life and the 
     conditions within Cuba that provoked the refugees to flee 
     their homeland. In addition to President Clinton's 
     condemnation referred to in the document, the State 
     Department issued a strong statement on July 22. At Secretary 
     Christopher's request, our Permanent Representative to the 
     United Nations wrote to Secretary General Boutros-Ghali to 
     advise him of the tragedy and to ask him to join in the call 
     for an investigation. We also informed the United Nations 
     High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jose Ayala Lasso, of the 
     incident and suggested that he give it his attention. We 
     shall continue to work closely with the Secretary General and 
     High Commissioner in this matter.
       Subsequent to the drafting of H. Con. Res. 279, Fidel 
     Castro relaxed restrictions on the departure of Cubans with 
     the implicit threat of launching another Mariel exodus, and 
     the number of Cubans leaving on rafts and other unseaworthy 
     vessels with a U.S. destination climbed markedly. In the 
     course of responding to this challenge, the President 
     stressed on August 20 that we would continue to bring before 
     the United Nations and other international organizations 
     evidence of Cuban human rights abuses, such as the sinking of 
     the tugboat ``13th of March.''
       The Office of Management and Budget advises that from the 
     standpoint of the Administration's program there is no 
     objection to submission of this report.
       I hope this information is useful to you. Please do not 
     hesitate to call if we can be of further assistance.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Wendy R. Sherman,
                         Assistant Secretary, Legislative Affairs.
                                  ____




                                          Department of State,

                              Washington, DC, September, 26, 1994.
     Hon. Robert Menendez,
     House of Representatives.
       Dear Mr. Menendez: Secretary Christopher has asked me to 
     respond to the letter that Rep. Ros-Lehtinen, Rep. Diaz 
     Balart and you sent him on July 28, 1994, regarding the 
     ``13th of March'' tragedy. We regret the delay in responding 
     to your letter, which arrived just as the recent Cuban 
     migration crisis began.
       We fully share your sense of outrage over the incident, the 
     loss of life and the conditions within Cuba that provoked the 
     refugees to flee their homeland. In addition to President 
     Clinton's condemnation on July 18, the State Department 
     issued a strong statement on July 22. Ours has not been the 
     only voice of international outrage. The Archbishop of Havana 
     called upon the Cuban government to investigate the tragedy; 
     the governments of Spain and the Czech Republic have made 
     similar demands.
       At Secretary Christopher's request, our Permanent 
     Representative to the United Nations wrote to Secretary 
     General Boutros-Ghali to advise him of the tragedy and to ask 
     him to join in the call for an investigation. We also 
     informed the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
     Rights, Jose Ayala Lasso, of the incident and suggested that 
     he give it his attention. We shall continue to work closely 
     with the Secretary General and the High Commissioner in this 
     matter.
       Furthermore, in the course of responding to Castro's 
     migration challenge, the President stressed on August 20 that 
     we would continue to bring before the United Nations and 
     other international organizations evidence of Cuban human 
     rights abuses, such as the sinking of the tugboat ``13th of 
     March.''
       We hope this information is useful to you. Please do not 
     hesitate to call if we can be of further assistance.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Wendy R. Sherman,
                         Assistant Secretary, Legislative Affairs.
                                  ____


                       Statement by the President

       Over the past two weeks, the government of Cuba has taken 
     actions to provoke a mass exodus to the United States. These 
     actions have placed thousands of Cuban citizens at risk in 
     small boats and rafts, and have had a direct impact on our 
     national interest.
       I want to thank the Cuban American community for their 
     courageous restraint in not taking their own boats to Cuba to 
     fuel the exodus, and thank the officials of Florida--Governor 
     Chiles, the congressional delegation, the people from Dade 
     County and others--who have worked so closely with us.
       Yesterday, I announced steps to counter Castro's efforts to 
     export his problems by provoking an exodus. Today, I'm 
     announcing additional actions consistent with the Cuban 
     Democracy Act to limit the ability of the Cuban government to 
     accumulate foreign exchange and to enable us to expand the 
     flow of information to the Cuban people.
       Specifically, cash remittances to Cuba will no longer be 
     permitted. Family gift packages will be limited to medicine, 
     food and strictly humanitarian items; and transfer of funds 
     for humanitarian purposes will require specific authorization 
     of the Treasury Department. Second, the only charter flights 
     permitted between Miami and Havana will be those clearly 
     designed to accommodate legal immigrants and travel 
     consistent with the purposes of the Cuban Democracy Act. 
     Third, the United States will use all appropriate means to 
     increase and amplify its international broadcasts to Cuba.
       The solution to Cuba's many problems is not an uncontrolled 
     exodus, it is freedom and democracy for Cuba.
       The United States will continue to bring before the United 
     Nations and other international organizations evidence of 
     human rights abuses, such as the sinking of the tugboat 
     ``13th of March.'' Meanwhile we will pursue this course with 
     vigor and determination.

                Statement of Congressman Robert Menendez

       I join my colleagues from Florida and New Jersey in calling 
     upon the Cuban-American community to continue showing 
     restraint in the fact of taunts by Fidel Castro to create 
     another exodus like we had in 1980. Castro continues to 
     inflict pain upon the Cuban community both in Cuba and in 
     exile, by seeking to exploit the strong yearning for family 
     reunification.
       However, we all know that the only reason that Castro seeks 
     to create another Mariel-type exodus is to release the 
     pressure valve building within Cuba. Castro cannot sustain 
     the public demonstrations that have taken place in 
     unprecedented numbers, and the constant civil disobedience 
     that human rights activists, and average Cubans exhibit by 
     taking to the seas in search of freedom. He seeks to divert 
     attention from his own abuse of human rights and acts of 
     murder, such as the deliberate killing by the Cuban 
     Government of 40 innocent men, women, and children on the 
     high seas.
       I believe that at long last we are witnessing the beginning 
     of the end for the Castro dictatorship. Last Friday's 
     demonstrations represent a watershed event in totalitarian 
     Cuba, as similar demonstrations did throughout Eastern 
     Europe. The Cuban people are saying loud and clear that they 
     no longer fear Fidel. Ladies and gentlemen, the Castro regime 
     has begun to unravel.
       In my view the disturbances will continue. Castro's 
     headaches will not go away. His grip on power will continue 
     to loosen as Cuba's failed economy continues to go down the 
     drain; and, as the Cuban people make clear to Castro: ``Mr. 
     Dictator, we have absolutely no fear of you.''
       However, I call upon the Clinton administration not to play 
     into Castro's hand by treating this latest threat as simply 
     an immigration problem. If we do so, we will once again have 
     let him set the agenda and divert the attention from the real 
     problem; namely, the lack of economic and political reform.
       The real solution to the problem is not the exodus of 
     100,000 or 200,000 people, but the departure of one tyrant.
       The present situation is not only a challenge but an 
     opportunity. Now is the time to use our technology to make 
     sure that both radio and television Marti fully penetrates 
     Cuba so that we can communicate with the Cuban people. We 
     have the ability to make sure T.V. Marti's signal reaches a 
     greater part of the population by transmissions from ship to 
     shore, air to shore, satellite transmissions, or by raising 
     the level of T.V. Marti's present signal technology. The 
     powerful images that the average Cuban would see, the risks 
     of dying at sea, the funerals that have taken place, how we 
     debate these issues in Congress, as well as the images of 
     fellow Cubans demonstrating against the dictatorship would 
     stem the tide of immigration, show how democracy works, and 
     foster hope for democratic change in Cuba.
       The administration must have the will that others have 
     lacked to give the people of Cuba, who live in a closed 
     society, an open window on the world. Fidel Castro has 
     challenged our national security at a time that we find 
     ourselves busy in both humanitarian missions in Rwanda and 
     the restoration of democracy in Haiti. It is in the national 
     interests to respond by providing free and unfettered 
     information to the Cuban people.
       This is also the time to respond to my singular call to 
     prepare for a post-Castro Cuba. Immediate support for my Free 
     and Independent Cuba Assistance Act would send a message to 
     the Cuban people and the international community that we are 
     in solidarity with the Cuban people, that we want to assist 
     them, but that we oppose the dictator that enslaves them and 
     keeps them hungry. Finally, we must break Castro's 
     stranglehold in making this a problem between Castro and 
     Washington, or Castro and the exile community in Miami. Since 
     there are no Democratic elections in Cuba, the Cuban people 
     are voting with their feet, by risking their lives and 
     fleeing Cuba. They have also voiced their discontent by 
     massive demonstrations, funeral observances in defiance of 
     government admonitions, and other acts of civil disobedience.
       It is time for the Clinton administration to seek a 
     resolution in the United Nations condemning the Castro 
     Government for the murder of the 40 innocent men, women, and 
     children aboard the vessel, 13 De Marzo.
       It is time for the administration to get other member 
     countries, especially within the Western Hemisphere, to call 
     for U.N. human rights observers to be sent to Cuba. They 
     could observe the admitted actions of the rapid response 
     brigades' brutality of average Cubans, whom Fidel Castro 
     calls private citizens not government thugs. Civil society in 
     Cuba is disintegrating and human rights abuses are at an all 
     time high.
       It is time to internationalize the concern for the rights 
     of Cuban citizens and break the myth that this is strictly a 
     Castro versus Washington problem. This is a problem of 
     hemispheric proportions which those countries who call 
     themselves democracies cannot ignore as they seek greater 
     hemispheric integration.
       It is time to be proactive, not reactive. It is time to 
     stop dancing to Castro's tune, and time to change the music. 
     History will do justice to the Castro dictatorship. Once 
     Castro wrote, ``History will absolve me.'' Instead, history 
     will condemn him. Let us not absolve Castro by blaming the 
     U.S.: The blame rests squarely with Fidel Castro.
                                  ____


       Transcript of Phone Interview With Survivors--Radio Marti

       Last Wednesday, July 13, 1994, a group of approximately 72 
     people tried to escape from Cuba on the tugboat ``13 de 
     Marzo'' (Thirteenth of March). Just after sailing from dock 
     06 at the Port of Havana, they were discovered and chased by 
     the Castro regime's coast guard. About seven miles from the 
     port, they were sunk by the regime's forces. What follows are 
     details concerning this event in which over 20 children died, 
     among others.
       From Havana, translation of testimony of Maritza Exposito 
     Torres, Vice-President of the Pro Human Rights Party of Cuba:
       ``We have obtained the direct testimonies of some of the 
     survivors of the catastrophe perpetrated by the Cuban 
     government on over 70 Cubans that were escaping on board a 
     tugboat from the Port of Havana.
       ``At dawn on July 13, a tugboat with 72 people on board 
     left Havana Bay with the intent of clandestinely leaving the 
     country. This group was comprised of about 30 women, 20 
     children, ranging in age from four months old to 3, 8 and 10 
     years of age, and several young people nearing their teen-age 
     years. The remainder were men.
       ``The boat left at 3:00 a.m. About 45 minutes later, having 
     advanced nearly seven miles out to sea, they were intercepted 
     by another tugboat, this one Japanese-built, which tried to 
     overturn those aboard in order to throw them into the sea. 
     Another tugboat soon joined the first one with the same 
     objective. The refugees were trapped between these two boats, 
     which then began to spray them with high-pressure water 
     hoses. These tore the clothes off the women, knocked them 
     down, and shot the children out of their arms.
       ``The mothers screamed and implored the attackers to stop 
     shooting the high-pressure water because they could drown the 
     young ones and damage the eyes of those on board. The Castro 
     officials continued using the hoses, trying to asphyxiate the 
     refugees, including the children. Many of the men, women and 
     children on board were injured by the water pressure and 
     thrown violently against the bulwarks of the boat. Seconds 
     later, a third tugboat appeared and attacked from behind, 
     splitting in two the refugee's boat, which was an older model 
     from the World War II era.
       ``The attackers, upon seeing that the refugees were 
     struggling to save their lives, continued to try to sink them 
     by striking their boat and using the water pressure. After 
     nearly an hour of battling in the open sea, they circled 
     their ships round the survivors, creating a whirlpool so that 
     they would drown. Many disappeared into the sea and lost 
     their lives.
       ``A `Griffin' then arrived at the scene, picked up the 
     survivors and took them to Jaimanitas, where they were 
     detained until 4:00 p.m. that day and later taken to secret 
     police headquarters at Villa Marista. There, they brought in 
     personnel to pick up those children that were left without 
     parents, mothers without their children, wives without their 
     husbands and so on. The men were all detained, among them the 
     owner of the boat, Raul by name, who is in Villa Marista.
       ``As of this moment, the exact number of victims is 
     unknown, but according to the testimonies of the survivors 
     Mayda Tacoronte Vega and Maria Garcia Suares, half of the 72 
     people on board died.
       ``Among the survivors are: Mayda Tacoronte Vega, 28-years-
     old; Milena Labrada Tacoronte, 3-years-old; Ramon Lugo 
     Martinez, 29-years-old; Daisy, 27-years-old; Darney, 3-years-
     old; Susana, 8-years-old; Raul Muniz, 22-years-old; and 
     Janetta, 18-years-old.
       ``Among those missing are: Leonardo Notario Gongora, 27-
     years-old; Marta Caridad Tacoronte Vega, 36-years-old; 
     Caridad Leyva Tacoronte, 4-years-old; Yousel Eugenio Perez 
     Tacoronte, 10-years-old; Magalys Mendez Tacoronte, 16-years-
     old; Odalys Muniz Garcia. All are residents of the 
     municipality of El Cotorro.
       ``The survivor from the municipality of Guanabacca is named 
     Maria Luisa Garcia Suarez. Those who have disappeared from 
     Guanabacoa are: Joel Garcia Suarez, 24-years-old; Mario 
     Gutierrez, 35-years-old; and the younger son of Maria Luisa 
     Garcia, 9-years-old.
       ``The homes of the survivors as well as those of the dead 
     in this tragedy caused by the government are under the strict 
     vigilance of the regime's repressive machinery.
       ``The facts narrated here were verified by Nelson Torres 
     Pulido, Secretary General of the Pro Human Rights Party of 
     Cuba (PPDH), Ramon Ferreiro, Municipal Delegate of the PPDH 
     in El Cotorro, and Leonardo Lauret, activist from the 
     Municipality of Guanabacoa.''

 Testimony of Janet Hernandez Gutierrez, 19 Years of Age, Survivor of 
         the Intentional Sinking of the Tugboat ``13 De Marzo''

       The massacre took place before dawn on July 13, 1994.
       When we set sail everything was going very well. There was 
     no one, nothing in our way, no obstacle. When we were coming 
     out of the bay we saw two tugboats at the mouth of the bay, 
     where we were existing. They let us through. But when we were 
     outside the bay they started throwing cannons of water at us. 
     Constantly. They did not take them off of us, knowing there 
     were children * * *
       When we reached the seven miles the cannons of water were 
     high pressure, a terrible force. We were holding the 
     children, fearful that they would fall. The men were with us, 
     fearful that we would fall. But so that they would see what 
     there were women and children aboard, we had to come out on 
     deck, so that they would be certain of that and would not 
     commit murder.
       When we were at 7 miles, we see that they speed up and they 
     pull up alongside of us. And then we could not see the Cuban 
     coast, because we could see nothing; not the lights of the 
     Malecon [Havana seawall] or of the lighthouse, nothing. They 
     start hitting our boat, the tugboat ``13 de Marzo''. We were 
     afraid, not for ourselves, but for the children, Because if 
     it were just ourselves it would not matter, but there were 
     children. Children from 5 months of age and up.
       When we lifted the children, they saw them--because they 
     did see them--we started to scream, ``please, please don't do 
     this'', but they did not listen. Even a young man who was 
     with us, Roman, who is currently in prison, yelled at one of 
     the ones in the other tugboat, ``Chino, don't do that. Look, 
     we have children'', and he showed his three-year-old step-
     daughter. If he does not lower the child at that moment the 
     little girl would have been killed with the cannon of water. 
     They did not fire weapons at us but they never said ``stop'' 
     with their loudspeaker or nothing. They simply let us exit 
     the bay and they attacked us at seven miles where there would 
     be no witnesses. You know that in the open sea there are no 
     witnesses.
       When they continue to hit our boat, a second tugboat comes 
     up from behind. The biggest one of the tugboats. It was green 
     with a red stripe, a red line. He hits us and breaks half of 
     our boat from behind. Then, at the moment, two of the men 
     almost fall overboard, among them my husband and Roman, the 
     young man who had yelled that there were children onboard.
       When this happens, the boat is unmanned because the 
     captain, Fidelsio Ramel, is thrown overboard with the cannons 
     of water. They throw him to the water. He disappeared. He 
     disappeared just like that. And when Raul, the one who is now 
     being blamed, realizes that the boat is unmanned, he takes 
     charge. He had an idea as to how to sail the tugboat 
     because he had been first-mate of another vessel, not 
     really related to a tugboat, they were different craft. 
     Then, with his general idea of sailing, he tries to help, 
     to save us, because already the boat had taken so much 
     water from the cannons, because they aimed right to the 
     hold of the boat, straight for it, in the faces of the 
     children. The children even had to lower their faces 
     because they were breathing in the water, swallowing it.
       By then we knew we were going to sink, because it was 
     something I just knew, I had a feeling they were going to 
     kill us. Because otherwise, they would have stopped. Rual 
     stopped the tugboat. And when they see that Rual stops it, 
     they did not forgive that nor respect that Rual did that. 
     They just sank us * * * in the following manner.
       The tugboat that breaks our stern comes around the front. 
     In other words, there was no way that boat was going to stay 
     afloat. It was sinking, with all of its weight in the middle 
     from all those people who were in the hold. There were around 
     72 people, most of them women and children. Men made up the 
     least fatalities. But those men [survivors] did what they 
     could to save us. When we sink, many people float. But the 
     tugboats reversed and moved back come meters. But they did 
     not throw us lifesavers not did they offer any type of 
     assistance. One of the tugboats threw a lifesaver far from 
     us, so that we would not be able to reach it
       When the tugboat broke our stern, a wooden box from our 
     boat falls to the water, several meters away. When you are in 
     the water, those meters are far. We could see the box far 
     away from us and many people were unable to reach it. Then 
     the whirlpool created by the tugboats swallowed them up. My 
     sister-in-law, Pilar Almanza Romero and her son Yasel Perodin 
     Almanza were there. Uncle Gayol, Manuel Gayol, was in the 
     hold of the boat. Those are three of my family that I lost.
       When my husband saw this, you can imagine, he went mad. My 
     brother-in-law to, but he was trying to gave the other boy. 
     Then we both tried to reach the other boy. But when I tried 
     to move I feel that my nephew, the one who drowned, is 
     holding me by the foot. When I reach for him, he was clinging 
     to my tennis shoe and he was swept away. I could not reach 
     him. It was terrible.
       Then when I see that my brother-in-law emerged with 
     Sergito, the youngest of my nephews, I felt tremendous relief 
     because at least I still had one of them, do you understand? 
     Then I took him, we kept him.
       Then a ``grifin'' arrived [coastguard vessel]. Later a 
     small speedboat arrived and picked up six or seven people, 
     including a little girl who looked like a toad, swollen with 
     all the water. But her mother had managed to save her. The 
     little girl of three years of age survived. When we saw this 
     * * *
       We stayed until dawn in the ``grifin''. When I boarded the 
     ``grifin'' I insulted them. I told them they were 
     murderers. I told them everything I could think of. I told 
     them they have no mercy with children, because here in 
     Cuba they say that there are many privileges for children 
     and the old. But they even let old people drown there. And 
     many children. Nearly 23 children dead there.
       The town is in an uproar. People are desperate for a bit of 
     information, anything that is known about the corpses that 
     remain captive in the hold of that boat. Roberto Robaina 
     [Cuba's Minister of Foreign Relations who lied to the world 
     press about this tragedy], he says that we knew the boat had 
     a malfunction when we left port. Do you really think that we 
     would have risked the lives of children and women knowing 
     there was a malfunction? Knowing that there is so much sea to 
     cross? Because when you look in a map there does not seem to 
     be much distance but in real life there are 90 miles, do you 
     understand? Then they say that that tugboat was a relic of 
     World War II. That is true. It was very old. Made of wood. 
     But it had just been repaired. (Some of the victims/survivors 
     had access to information and to the port itself. They had 
     knowledge that the boat was in working order.)
       When I went to Villa Marista [national headquarters of 
     State Security or political police] to take my husband and 
     brother-in-law some personal toiletries, I asked them [Villa 
     Marista] why did the newspaper report that the boat capsized, 
     that it sank because of our negligence? I told them that was 
     not so, asked why they lied. They became extremely agitated. 
     They asked me what I was inferring. They called me every kind 
     of name * * * ``worm, counterrevolutionary''. And I accepted 
     that because I am against this government. And I will say 
     that anywhere. I know that I will be persecuted, because all 
     of the survivors are under intense surveillance * * *
       But I asked them in Villa Marista that what will become of 
     those responsible for sinking us, the murderers of our 
     children and relatives. Because there are children who lost 
     their mothers. My nephew, for example. He knows he lost her, 
     because that is the saddest part, that he knows he lost her. 
     And he asks me in his childlike manner--I wish he were here 
     because he would be a better witness than I because a child 
     is worth so much--he asks why the frogmen who dive to put 
     fish in the aquariums, why can't they recover his mother and 
     his little brother. (The Cuban government claims they do not 
     have frogmen available to recover the bodies. Yet they have 
     an ongoing underwater program to, among other activities, 
     stock aquariums which are used for the entertainment of 
     tourists.)
                                  ____

       This section mentions events after the massacre took place:
       The ``Polargo 5'': ``The captain of this tugboat is 
     Jesusito (Jesus Martinez). He was the one who rammed into us 
     from behind and cracked the boat, then came to the front and 
     sank us. This man, coming with this horror, this cynicism, 
     with that murder he committed, that he provoked, they call 
     him the hero now at this time, in his company, they are 
     calling him the hero at his company, the ``Navegacion 
     Caribe''. Then this ``Polargo 5'', they want to take it to 
     Nuevitas, to wait for everything to calm down, but what they 
     don't know is that this isn't going to calm down.
                                  ____


            Funeral Rally at Fidel Castro's Mission Tomorrow

       Today, on the anniversary of the beginning of the Cuban 
     revolution, the Cuban American community will hold a funeral 
     rally at Fidel Castro's mission in Washington. The event will 
     take place in memory of 43 Cuban men, women and children who 
     were massacred by the Cuban regime last July 13, when their 
     attempt to escape the island was thwarted by government 
     forces. The Cuban Catholic bishops in a message to ``all 
     Catholics and all Cubans'' have called for an investigation, 
     and his Holiness Pope John Paul II sent a message to the 
     families of the victims expressing his ``condolences.''
       In the early hours of July 13, 1994, an old tugboat sailed 
     from Havana harbor with 74 persons aboard. Seven miles off 
     the Cuban coast four government fireboats intercepted them, 
     opening their power hoses on them. The water barrage knocked 
     some of the would-be refugees into the ocean. The fireboats 
     then rammed the tugboat and split it in two, sinking it. 31 
     people (6 children, 5 women, and 20 men) were rescued by 
     Cuba's Frontier Guards; 41 people including 14 children 
     drowned.
       According to survivors, those aboard the tugboat had 
     offered no resistance. The Miami Herald in an editorial also 
     reprinted in the editorial page of The Washington Post 
     reported that ``the escapees even held up some of the small 
     children for the attackers to see, screaming that more than 
     20 children were on board.'' One of the survivors, Mrs. Maria 
     Victoria Garcia Suarez, whose ten-year-old son slipped from 
     her hands while in the water, was interviewed by Miami's TV 
     Channel 51. She also lost seven other members of her family.
       The bishops' statement and the foreign media coverage 
     forced the Castro government to change its initial 
     explanation that the tugboat sank due to a leak caused by an 
     accidental collision. Mrs. Garcia Suarez, who was detained by 
     State Security police after her TV interview, was released 
     after her neighbors protested. Others remain in custody. The 
     Cuban government has tried to prevent memorial services for 
     the victims, fearing a public demonstration in Havana. The 
     regime also has refused to recover the bodies of those who 
     remain inside the sunken tugboat. The Cuban government's 
     response to the bishops' statement and to international 
     outrage over the incident has been to increase repression 
     against the dissidents who protested this massacre, and the 
     friends and relatives of the victims.
       Havana has stepped up its interference with Radio Marti. We 
     call on the Organization of American States, the United 
     Nations, and the press, to call Castro to account for this 
     crime.
       Of Human Rights and Casa Cuba urge all people of good will 
     to join the Cuban American community in a funeral procession 
     in front of the Cuban Interests Section on 16th St., NW at 
     noon on July 26, 1994.
       We will pay our respects to the memory of these most recent 
     victims of Fidel Castro on this July 26. The Cuban Revolution 
     which started on July 26, 1953 is over. While the eyes of the 
     world focus elsewhere in the Caribbean, Castro's regime now 
     in its 35th year remains in power through the use of terror.
       Cuba Si, Castro No!
                                  ____


                 [From the Miami Herald, July 19, 1994]

 Sinking of Tugboat Off Cuba ``Brutal,'' Clinton Says--Symbolic Wakes 
                    Staged in Havana, Sources Report

                           (By Cynthia Corzo)

       The sinking of a refugee-laden tugboat by four Cuban 
     fireboats Wednesday--an incident in which about 40 people 
     were reported missing or dead--has aroused the anger of 
     Cubans on the island and a strong condemnation from President 
     Clinton.
       ``It's a human tragedy,'' said Clinton, who was in Miami on 
     Monday to attend the opening of the National Council of 
     LaRaza's annual convention. ``I deplore it as . . . another 
     example of the brutal nature of the Cuban regime.''
       According to sources in Cuba, symbolic wakes to honor the 
     dead have been staged in the Havana suburbs of El Cotorro and 
     Guanabacoa.
       ``They're sowing the seeds of the people's wrath,'' David 
     Buzzi, a human rights activist, said in a phone call from 
     Havana. ``It's a criminal act and the people cry for 
     justice.''
       A Mass for the dead will be said today at 2 p.m. at the 
     Havana Cathedral, according to information received Monday by 
     the Cuban American National Foundation.
       Traditionally, public demonstrations in Cuba have been 
     quashed by the authorities, and demonstrators are often 
     imprisoned.
       ``The people have taken to the streets,'' said Mercedes 
     Marrero, 46, a Miami resident with relatives in Cuatro 
     Caminos, a Havana neighborhood. Six of those relatives were 
     in the tugboat; three are missing and presumed dead; three 
     survived. The tugboat reportedly carried 72 people when it 
     was rammed and sunk by fireboats. The crews of the fireboats 
     ``committed murder,'' Marrero said. ``Those poor innocent 
     people [on the tugboat] were seeking freedom.''
       A nephew in Cuba told Marrero in a phone call that, after 
     knocking refugees overboard using high-pressure hoses, the 
     fireboats made eddies to drag the people underwater.
       Most of the people died inside the tugboat, Marrero said, 
     when the fireboat crews aimed their hoses at the hole and 
     filled it with water.
       Cuban officials in Washington rejected the accounts of the 
     survivors and their relatives, calling them ``lies.''
       ``This is all part of the campaign against the Cuban 
     revolution,'' said Rafael Dausa, a special envoy at the Cuban 
     Interests Section.
       Dausa said the Cuban government ``is doing everything 
     possible to bring this unpleasant incident to an end.''
                                  ____


                             Murder at Sea

       Has our hemisphere grown so used to the Cuban regime's 
     savagery that it cannot summon a cry of outrage for the 
     nearly 40 Cuban refugees sent to their watery deaths by Fidel 
     Castro's government? The ``prudent'' silence over Cuba's 
     murderous sinking of a tugboat loaded with escapees is 
     without justification.
       Would this complicitous silence greet the murder of 
     innocent men, women, and children fleeing other places? The 
     murdered refugees' only crime was to make a desperate attempt 
     to flee Cuba. Soon after the group of 72 began their escape 
     aboard a decrepit tug, Cuban fire fighting boats attacked 
     them. According to eyewitnesses, the refugees signaled their 
     readiness to surrender and to return to port. The escapees 
     even held up some of the small children for the attackers to 
     see, screaming that more than 20 children were on board.
       Such pleas did not deter Castro's men, who turned potent 
     fire hoses on the refugee vessel, sweeping passengers 
     overboard. The pursuit craft then rammed the tugboat 
     repeatedly, capsizing it. Tragically, all of the children 
     hiding in the tug's hold apparently died. The adult survivors 
     are in jail. Where on earth is a mute world's conscience?
       Countries with substantial investments in Cuba--Spain, 
     Mexico, and a few others--have a special obligation to 
     denounce this crime perpetrated by Cuba's government against 
     the unarmed refugees. Like investors in the South Africa of 
     apartheid. Cuba's foreign business partners ought to feel 
     particularly ashamed of the actions of the regime that their 
     capital is helping to sustain.
       Has our hemisphere grown so used to the Cuban regime's 
     savagery that it cannot summon a cry of outrage for the 
     nearly 40 Cuban refugees sent to their watery deaths by Fidel 
     Castro's government? The ``prudent'' silence over Cuba's 
     murderous sinking of a tugboat loaded with escapees is 
     without justification.
       Would this complicitous silence greet the murder of 
     innocent men, women and children fleeing other places? The 
     murdered refugees' only crime was to make a desperate attempt 
     to flee Cuba. Soon after the group of 72 began their escape 
     about a decrepit tug, Cuban fire-fighting boats attacked 
     them. According to eyewitnesses, the refugees signaled their 
     readiness to surrender and to return to port. The escapees 
     even held up some of the small children for the attackers to 
     see, screaming that more than 20 children were on board.
       Such pleas did not deter Castro's men, who turned potent 
     fire hoses on the refugee vessel, sweeping passengers 
     overboard. The pursuit craft then rammed the tugboat 
     repeatedly, capsizing it. Tragically, all of the children 
     hiding in the tug's hold apparently died. The adult survivors 
     are in jail. Where on earth is a mute world's conscience?
       Countries with substantial investments in Cuba--Spain, 
     Mexico and a few others--have a special obligation to 
     denounce this crime perpetrated by Cuba's government against 
     the unarmed refugees. Like investors in the South Africa of 
     apartheid, Cuba's foreign business partners ought to feel 
     particularly ashamed of the actions of the regime that their 
     capital is helping to sustain.
                                  ____


                     Church Assails Tugboat Tragedy

       Havana.--Cuba's Roman Catholic Church Tuesday condemned the 
     sinking of a tugboat stolen by a group of Cubans trying to 
     leave the island, calling it ``in no way accidental,'' and 
     demanded that those responsible be held accountable.
       Archbishop Jaime Ortega, the head of the church in Cuba, 
     condemned the tragedy in a forceful statement on the sinking, 
     allegedly after the tugboat was rammed by a government vessel 
     trying to intercept it, and delays in rescue efforts.
       Some 40 refuge seekers, including women and children, are 
     reported to have drowned in the sinking.
       ``This adds to the pain, a sense of astonishment and a 
     demand for the facts to be cleared up and for 
     responsibilities to be cleansed,'' Ortega said in his 
     statement.
       ``The violent and tragic events that produced the sinking 
     of a boat where so many of our brothers lost their lives are, 
     according to the accounts given by survivors, of a roughness 
     that can scarcely be imagined.''
       Cuban authorities have said that 31 people were rescued and 
     an unstated number of people were missing after the tug sank 
     before dawn last Wednesday, north of Havana.
       One survivor, however, told foreign reporters last Friday 
     that the stolen tugboat was sprayed for some time with 
     pressure hoses by pursuing vessels. She said it sank after 
     being hit on one side.
       Ortega's statement said it was known that the church did 
     not condone people trying to leave the island in fragile 
     vessels, sometimes with small children on board. ``But the 
     magnitude and the causes of this tragedy give it different 
     characteristics,'' he said.
       An Interior Ministry statement, over the weekend, said that 
     the tugboat used by the group, a Transport Ministry Maritime 
     Services vessel, was leaking before it was stolen.
                                  ____


               Cuba Blames U.S. Policy in Tugboat Deaths

                          (By Mimi Whitefield)

       Cuban Armed Forces Minister Raul Castro chastised the 
     United States for whipping up ``anti-Cuba hysteria'' Tuesday 
     and blamed U.S. policy toward Cuba for the recent deaths at 
     sea of more than 30 Cubans fleeing their homeland.
       In a rare turn of events, President Fidel Castro ceded 
     delivery of the traditional July 26 speech that commemorates 
     the beginning of the Cuban revolution to his brother, the 
     second secretary of Cuba's Communist Party.
       However, the Cuban leader was seated in the first row 
     during the 45-minute speech delivered on the Isle of Youth 
     off Cuba's southwestern coast.
       ``For the lives lost in the depths of the ocean, the U.S. 
     administration must stand in first place among the accused 
     for its permanent aggressive attitude against our country, 
     including the immigration policy toward Cuban citizens,'' 
     Raul Castro said.
       U.S. policy, he said, encourages Cubans to leave the island 
     in flimsy rafts and hijacked boats and planes because they 
     are treated as heroes when they arrive by such means, while 
     at the same time they are blocked from migrating legally 
     because the United States issues so few visas.
       ``The gates of our country are open to those who want to 
     emigrate legally,'' said Castro. Despite his claims, Havana 
     has held up exit visas for years in some politically 
     sensitive cases.
       Castro criticized the organizers of all ill-fated July 13 
     expedition to the United States that ended when a Cuban 
     government vessel rammed a hijacked tugboat, causing it to 
     sink. Havana says it was an accident; some survivors say 
     otherwise.
       Thirty-one people were rescued, but 32 others apparently 
     drowned when the tug went down seven miles out to sea after 
     being pursued by government vessels.
       Castro said the wooden tugboat was 115 years old, seaworthy 
     only inside the port of Havana and was meant to carry only 
     four people.
       The pursuing Cuban boats, he said, tried to prevent the 
     tugboat from making a ``death trip'' because it was 
     ``destined to sink well before it would reach port.'' He did 
     not acknowledge any role the pursuing Cuban boats may have 
     played in causing the tragedy.
       And Castro said that neither the U.S. State Department nor 
     the Senate nor President Clinton ``had any right to meddle in 
     an event that is under the exclusive jurisdiction'' of Cuba. 
     The United States has been highly critical of Cuba's role in 
     the tragedy.
       ``We reject with all our energy the anti-Cuba campaign and 
     the interference in our affairs by the United States,'' he 
     said.
       The fact that the armed forces minister devoted so much of 
     his speech to the tugboat incident is an indication of the 
     consternation that incident has provoked inside Cuba. This 
     week the two main topics of conversation in Havana were the 
     sinking of the tugboat and the food shortage.
       Still, the fact that Raul Castro gave the July 26 speech 
     nearly overshadowed what he had to say.
       Cuba officials said Fidel Castro didn't give the speech as 
     he traditionally does because it followed so closely on the 
     heels of his two-day visit to Colombia for the signing of the 
     document creating the Association of Caribbean states.
       ``There's nothing mysterious about this. He [Raul] has 
     given the speech a few times in the past. It's because Fidel 
     was out of the country,'' said Rafael Dausa, a spokesman at 
     the Cuban Interests Section in Washington.
       But the Cuban head of state was back on the island Monday 
     evening--in plenty of time to make the ceremony marking the 
     41st anniversary of the assault on Moncada Barracks, the 
     failed attack that is regarded as the first battle in the 
     Cuban revolution.
       Among diplomats there were two other schools of thought on 
     why Raul gave this year's speech. One was that with the Cuban 
     economy in such dismal shape, there would be little good news 
     to report and Fidel Castro preferred to keep his distance.
       Another was that by allowing Raul to give the speech it 
     would strengthen his image and showcase him as a potential 
     Cuban leader. Raul, 63, is the heir apparent to his older 
     brother, who will be 68 in August.
       ``This may be an attempt to bring Raul out of the shadows 
     as well as to try to give the impression that Fidel is taking 
     something of a back seat, that he's not the only one running 
     the show,'' said Wayne Smith, who headed the U.S. Interests 
     Section in Havana from 1979 to 1982.
       Party leaders say the Isle of Youth was chosen as the 
     center of this year's national holiday in homage to Cuba's 
     youth--a numerically important group that has become 
     increasingly disenchanted with the revolution.
       Some 45 percent of the Cuban population is 30 years or 
     younger, and thousands of Cuban and foreign students attend 
     boarding schools on the Isle of Youth and help cultivate its 
     citrus crop.
       Since the Communist Party Congress in 1991, a process has 
     been under way to bring a younger generation of Cubans into 
     leadership positions.
       ``There have always been people for whom the concepts of 
     homeland and independence don't signify anything . . . but 
     the immense majority of our people profoundly love their 
     homeland and its history,'' Raul Castro said.
                                  ____


  Demonstrators at Cuban Mission in Washington Protest Tugboat Sinking

       Washington.--More than 100 people rallied outside Cuba's 
     diplomatic mission Tuesday to protest an incident in which 
     about 40 Cubans reportedly drowned after their tugboat was 
     rammed by government fireboats during an escape attempt.
       According to reports, this tugboat was intercepted seven 
     miles at sea on July 13 by four fireboats, which sprayed the 
     vessel with power hoses before ramming it.
       Thirty-one of those aboard were rescued.
       A call by the archbishop of Havana for a full investigation 
     has received support from the State Department.
       Several of the demonstrators involved in the Tuesday 
     protest were detained after chaining themselves to a fence at 
     the Cuban mission. Among them was Armando Valladares, former 
     U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.
       The protest occurred on the 1st anniversary of President 
     Fidel Castro's debut as a guerrilla fighter.
                                  ____


                        Calling Cuba To Account

       Did we need yet another example of how brutally inhumane 
     the Castro government is? Should further proof be needed, 
     none could be more graphic than the deliberate sinking by 
     Cuban government vessels of a boatload of refugees July 13. 
     Bad as they are, not even the generals in Haiti have resorted 
     to such means.
       More than 70 people were packed on an ancient tugboat from 
     Havana when the ship was intercepted at sea, seven miles from 
     Cuba's shores en route to Florida. Despite the fact that the 
     refugees immediately surrendered, they were sprayed with 
     waterguns from one ship, which knocked them over and knocked 
     children out of their mother's arms. Many were swept off the 
     deck and into the sea. Two other government ships rammed the 
     hull of the tugboat, which split in two and sank.
       Some 40 people perished in the tumultuous waters, as well 
     as an uncertain number of children seeking protection from 
     the waterguns in the hull of the ship. One survivor, 
     interviewed on video by a group of foreign journalists in 
     Havana, told of finding herself in the water trying to save 
     her young son, holding on even after the child had drowned, 
     but finally having to let go from sheer exhaustion. 
     Eventually, a Cuban coast guard vessel appeared and picked up 
     survivors, about 31 people. The men were sent to prison. The 
     women and children were released, but continue to be under 
     surveillance.
       President Clinton, during his trip to Miami July 18, 
     denounced the act as an ``example of Cuban brutality,'' and 
     so it certainly is. Many others have protested as well. On 
     Friday, the Senate passed an amendment to the State, 
     Commerce, Justice Appropriations Bill condemning the action 
     and requesting U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright to urge an 
     investigation of the incident as well as to demand the 
     release of the survivors. That would seem the least we can 
     do. And most visibly, of course, a group of Cuban-American 
     protesters on Tuesday blocked the entrance to the Cuban 
     Interests Section on 16th Street NW in protest. They asked 
     that the Cuban government hand over the bodies of the dead 
     retrieved from the hull of the ship, which Havana has refused 
     to do, as it has refused to open an investigation.
       As might be expected, the Cuban government has rather a 
     different story. It goes something like this: The ship was 
     old and unseaworthy; it sank by an accidental collision with 
     one of the other ships; the survivors were only rescued by 
     the unselfish efforts of Cuban sailors. Furthermore, it's all 
     the fault of the nasty American government. The refugees 
     wouldn't have been at sea at all, were it not for the 
     dastardly U.S. policy of enticing them to Florida with 
     promises of asylum--so Cuba's first deputy president, Raul 
     Castro, brother of Fidel, ranted in a speech on Tuesday.
       Perhaps you could turn Mr. Castro's argument around. These 
     people wouldn't have been at sea in the first place had they 
     not lived in a country governed by a regime so awful that the 
     use of terror is the only way to make its people stay.
                                  ____


 Story of Tug's Sinking Incited Cubans--Drownings That Launched Exodus 
                       of Rafters May Be Portent

                           (By Tod Robberson)

       Guanabacoa, Cuba, Sept. 10--An aging tugboat crumbled 
     beneath its terrorized passengers on the high seas. By the 
     survivors' account, water pounded against them as weary men, 
     women and children gasped for air and tried to keep afloat. 
     Mothers desperately tried to tread water with one hand while 
     clutching infants, then finally lost their grips and 
     condemned their babies to death by drowning. Help was a hand 
     on other boats, but they turned away.
       The story is not among those of the 20,000 Cuban raft 
     people who set out to sea over the last month after President 
     Fidel Castro opened the doors to emigration, Rather, it is 
     the survivors' version of what happened earlier, when 
     Castro's Communist government attempted to crack down on 
     those attempting to flee.
       After Friday's accord with the United States calling on 
     Cuba to halt the exodus of raft people, the story of 68 
     passengers aboard the tugboat 13th of March looms as a 
     precedent for what might happen now that Castro has pledged 
     to close the door once again.
       During the predawn hours of July 13, three tugboats were 
     dispatched from the port authority of Havana to follow the 
     commandeered 13th of March out to sea. By the account of 
     interviewed survivors--disputed by Castro and the official 
     press--when the tug was seven miles offshore the authority's 
     boats pummeled passengers on its deck with water cannon, then 
     systematically sank the boat by ramming it in unison until it 
     broke apart. Crew members refused to help survivors out of 
     the water. Two Cuban military gunboats stood a few hundred 
     yards away while the demolition was underway.
       At least 37 passengers from the 13th of March drowned, 
     while 31 survivors lived to retell a story that circulated 
     throughout this island nation and prompted the Cuban 
     migration crisis of 1994.
       Over the succeeding three weeks, three other passenger 
     boats, a military craft and an airplane were commandeered. 
     Street demonstration erupted, culminating Aug. 5 in a Havana 
     riot in which civilians killed two policemen and gravely 
     injured a third. On Aug. 6, Castro announced a new policy 
     lifting all restrictions on emigration by sea. Many here 
     are calling the tugboat saga ``Cuba's version of Tiananmen 
     Square.''
       Six survivors from the 13th of March recounted their ordeal 
     during interviews this week here and in the neighboring town 
     of La Magdalena, near Havana.
       ``It all started with us,'' said Maria Victoria Garcia, 28, 
     who until 4 a.m. on July 13 was the mother of a 10-year-old 
     boy, Juan Mario. ``What happened that morning was 
     premeditated murder. It was a massacre.''
       The 13th of March was a wooden 115-year-old tug that was 
     docked in Havana. Two tugboat captains from Guanabocoa who 
     worked at the port, Fidencio Ramel Prieto, 51, and Raul Munoz 
     Garcia, 22, met secretly in early July and agreed to organize 
     a small group of family members, sneak them aboard the 
     recently renovated boat and, under cover of darkness, set out 
     for Florida. By the time the group entered Havana port at 3 
     a.m., it had swollen to an unwieldy 68 people, varying in age 
     from less than 12 months to 60 years.
       Ramel was deputy director of the port as well as secretary 
     in the labor division of Cuba's Communist Party, and among 
     the nation's most experienced mariners. He had been chosen to 
     fly to the Netherlands in 1987 to take possession of five new 
     tugboats purchased by Cuba to replace its aging fleet. Three 
     of the tugs he guided across the Atlantic in 1987 were used 
     to hunt him down on July 13, and crush his 51-foot craft into 
     splinters.
       Ramel and Garcia both knew that security at the port was 
     minimal from midnight to dawn and they would have few 
     problems sneaking onto the 13th of March.
       ``Nobody tried to stop us,'' said Jorge Cuba Suarez, 24, a 
     neighbor of Ramel's family here. ``After we got out of the 
     port, another tugboat started following us. They could have 
     turned us back at any time but they didn't.'' He said Ramel 
     ordered everyone to remain in the hold until they had reached 
     international waters.
       ``We spent about an hour down blow and then Raul yelled for 
     all women and children to come to the deck,'' said Matia 
     Tacornte Vega, 36, of La Magdalena. ``I went up and could see 
     that two tugboats were right next to us. Ramel wanted us on 
     deck to show them we were just a bunch of women and 
     children.''
       Tacoronte said the tugboats began ``shooting water at us'' 
     from water cannon mounted atop their helms, and Ramel shut 
     down his boat's engine.
       Then, without warning, one tugboat rammed the 13th of March 
     from behind. ``I was standing right there when it happened,'' 
     recalled Maria Victoria, who is Ramel's daughter. ``The force 
     knocked everybody down. We had to grab anything we could just 
     to keep from falling into the water.
       Another tug punched a hole in the hull of the 13th of 
     March, the survivors said, and a third joined in the ramming.
       ``The entire deck buckled. It separated completely from the 
     hull. I started sliding into the water and I remember 
     thinking, ``We're all going to die,''' Maria Victoria said.
       ``Most of the men were still down below,'' said Daysi 
     Martinez Fundora, 26, ``we all started screaming, `Please, 
     mother of God! We're all Cubans. At least save our children!' 
     But the crew members on the other boats just stared at us.''
       In less than five minutes the 13th of March had sunk, with 
     more than two dozen people still hiding in its hold. 
     Tacoronte said she and other mothers clutched their children 
     while grabbing anything afloat to keep their heads above 
     water.
       ``I don't know why, but they kept shooting water at us. I 
     couldn't open my mouth to breathe.'' Tacoronte said she 
     refused to let go of her 3-
       Interviews have been difficult because many of the male 
     survivors were kept in jail after their rescue. Raul Munoz 
     remains in prison. Garcia said he was jailed for 12 days. 
     Maria Victoria's brother, Ivan Suarez, said he was held for 
     22 days. Women and children were allowed to go home after a 
     few hours of questioning.
       Official accounts of the incident printed in the government 
     newspaper Granma said the 13th of March sank after an 
     ``accident'' in which one of the government tugboats collided 
     with it while attempting to rescue the passengers.
       ``If they had tried to rescue us my boy would be alive 
     today,'' Maria Victoria said.
       Granma confirmed the water cannon were used but said they 
     were directed at the boat's smokestack and helm in an attempt 
     to shut down its engine. Granma blamed the accident on Ramel 
     and Munoz while quoting Munoz from prison as saying that 
     Ramel ``knew the boat was unseaworthy'' but had deliberately 
     risked setting out to sea.
       Granma also said the rescue attempts were made difficult by 
     rough seas that morning. All survivors interviewed said the 
     sea was calm. Maria Victoria's parents compiled a scrapbook 
     to chronicle the deaths of more than a dozen family members 
     who were passengers. Pasted onto one page are the official 
     weather reports from July 13 as well as the day before and 
     day after. All described clear weather and calm seas.
       In an Aug. 24 speech, Castro called the disaster the first 
     incident in the current migration crisis but said ``it 
     remains proven that the authorities had absolutely nothing to 
     do with this accident.''
       Ester Suarez, Ramel's wife, disputed government assertions 
     that her husband was a ``counterrevolutionary'' and a 
     traitor. ``He was a senior member of the Communist Party. 
     He was devoted,'' she said, pulling out Ramel's party 
     membership booklet. ``Look, Fidel signed his booklet 
     personally.''
       ``I think Fidel really believes this was an accident. They 
     have lied to him,'' Maria Victoria said. ``He needs to know 
     the truth, that this was murder.'' She said Communist Party 
     officials had offered to give her a new house, fully 
     furnished, if she would agree to keep quiet about the 
     incident, but she refused.
       On Aug. 3, two days after Ivan Suarez was released from 
     jail, he and his mother were returning to Guanabacoa from a 
     shopping trip to Havana. They boarded a 194-passenger ferry, 
     La Coubre, that would carry them past the dock where the 13th 
     of March had been moored.
       Suddenly the ferry's engines surged and the boat lurched 
     toward the sea. La Coubre had been hijacked. Two hours later, 
     Ivan and Ester Suarez were in international waters. A U.S. 
     Coast Guard ship pulled alongside and an announcement was 
     made that anyone aboard who wanted to seek asylum would be 
     allowed to travel to a detention center near Miami.
       ``Ivan looked at me and I told him I could not go. My 
     family needed me at home,'' Ester Suarez said. ``He decided 
     to come back with me.''
       Seventy-six passengers chose to return to Cuba, where they 
     received a hero's welcome and personal expressions of 
     gratitude from Castro. ``In two days, Ivan went from being a 
     prisoner and an example of national disgrace to being a 
     national hero,'' Ester Suarez said. ``This is Cuba.''
       Maria Victoria said she kept one arm wrapped around 10-
     year-old Juan Mario for about 30 minutes, while holding onto 
     a large wooden box floating in the water and while 10 other 
     people flailed about trying to maintain their grip on it.
       Someone's foot hit Maria Victoria's arm, causing her to 
     lose her grip on Juan Mario. ``He disappeared. Someone 
     screamed. `Grab Juan Mario. He's going down!' But he was 
     gone. I never saw my little boy again,'' Maria Victoria said, 
     adding that she now is taking prescription tranquilizers and 
     receiving psychiatric treatment.
       Jorge Luis Garcia said the survivors pleaded with crew 
     members on the three tugboats to rescue them, ``but they just 
     stared at us. One man stood on the deck with his arms 
     crossed. I couldn't believe it. They were trying to make us 
     drown.''
       At about 5 a.m., two Cuban navy gunboats moved in and 
     fished 31 people from the waters. They circled for six hours 
     without finding any other survivors, then headed back to 
     Havana. Capt. Ramel and at least 15 other men perished, along 
     with four boys, three girls and 13 women.
       Cuban human rights workers say they are still trying to 
     interview survivors to compile a full list of everyone on the 
     boat. ``There might be more dead but we won't know until 
     we've visited every survivor's home,'' said Elizardo Sanchez 
     Santa Cruz, president of the Cuban Commission of Human Rights 
     and National Reconciliation.

                 [From the Miami Herald, July 7, 1993]

U.S. Rips Cuba's ``Extreme Cruelty''--Protests Three Killings Near Base

               (By Christopher Marquis and David Hancock)

       Washington.--Cuban marine patrols, determined to stop 
     refugees from reaching the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, 
     have repeatedly tossed grenades and shot at fleeing swimmers 
     and recovered some bodies with gaff hooks, U.S. officials 
     charged Tuesday.
       At least three Cubans have been killed in the past month as 
     Cuban patrol boats attacked swimmers within sight of U.S. 
     Navy personnel at Guantanamo.
       The killings are the latest sign that Cuba is resorting to 
     violent means to stop a torrent of desperate people from 
     fleeing the impoverished island.
       ``This is the most savage kind of behavior I've ever heard 
     of,'' said Robert Gelbard, deputy assistant secretary of 
     state for Latin America. The United States has no previous 
     record of such activity in Cuba, he added, calling the 
     practice ``even worse than what happened at the Berlin 
     Wall.''
       The Clinton administration filed a formal protest Monday 
     with the government of President Fidel Castro, calling on 
     Havana to ``immediately cease these barbaric practices,'' 
     said a State Department aide.
       News of the attacks at Guantanamo comes amid a fierce 
     crackdown by Cuban authorities on residents who try to leave 
     the country.
       On Thursday, Cuban patrols killed three people who tried to 
     swim to a U.S.-registered speedboat near the town of Cojimar. 
     The captain, a U.S. citizen and Florida Keys resident, was 
     injured in a hail of bullets. A fifth man, also from South 
     Florida, escaped.
       In separate incidents Friday and Monday, authorities seized 
     boats near Havana and Santa Cruz del Norte, arresting 
     seven U.S. residents as they sought to help scores of 
     relatives flee the island.
       The men captured Monday were Cuban rafters who had spent 
     only two months in this country.
       ``My brother did not want to live without his wife and two 
     children,'' said Camilo Bourzac, 28, whose brother Ernesto, 
     31, is now in jail on the island.


                    u.s. charges ``extreme cruelty''

       The attacks on swimmers in Guantanamo Bay drew especially 
     sharp criticism because the refugees might easily have been 
     detained without violence, U.S. officials said. ``The idea of 
     blowing people up when they are vulnerable underwater is 
     appalling,'' Gelbard said.
       A State Department aide called the use of gaffs, usually 
     used to pull gamefish into boats, to pull bodies from the 
     water ``an act of extreme cruelty.''
       According to the U.S. protest, U.S. military guards 
     surveying the bay have witnessed five separate incidents:
       On June 19 at 2 p.m., U.S. guards, startled by the sounds 
     of detonations, saw Cuban troops aboard patrol boats dropping 
     grenades in the paths of several swimmers headed for the U.S. 
     base.
       On June 20 at 1:30 p.m., Cuban troops repeated the action, 
     then strafed the water with machine-gun fire.
       On June 26 at 11 a.m., three patrol boats surrounded a 
     group of swimmers, lobbing grenades and spraying them with 
     automatic weapons fire. At least three corpses were lifted 
     out of the water with gaffs.
       On June 27 at 11:30 a.m., guards aboard patrol boats lobbed 
     two grenades into the water.
       On the same day, just before 3 p.m., a patrol boat opened 
     automatic fire on a group of swimmers, who were later seen 
     being pulled from the water. The swimmers' status was 
     unknown.
       U.S. officials said they did not know how many people had 
     been killed in the recent Guantanamo incidents, but said at 
     least three could not have survived the attacks.
       The number of Cuban seeking to reach Guantanamo, where they 
     can apply for political asylum, has surged this year.
       The base, which remains the last Western outpost in a 
     Communist nation, reports that 195 Cubans have reached the 
     facility this year, more than the total of 152 for all of 
     1992.
       The statistic stands in even greater contrast to the years 
     prior to the end of the Cold War: in 1988, 21 Cubans reached 
     the Guantanamo base; in 1989, there were only 12.
       About 90 percent of the refugees come by sea, crossing the 
     bay waters in small craft or by swimming. Fences, guard posts 
     and several strips of minefields deter those attempting to 
     enter the base by land.
       U.S. diplomats who presented the protest note to the 
     Foreign Ministry in Havana warned that the use of explosives 
     so close to the U.S. base could be considered a ``provocative 
     act.''


                      boat incident also protested

       The diplomats also lodged a separate protest Monday of last 
     Thursday's shooting against the Key West-registered 
     speedboat, the Midnight Express.
       A Washington source said Tuesday that the boat's pilot, 
     Ricky Hoddinott, who suffered gunshot wounds to the legs, 
     told a U.S. diplomat that he and Hugo Portilla, a Cuban exile 
     living in Miami, had traveled to Cuba to pick up five or six 
     people.
       However, when the Midnight Express approached Cojimar, 
     between 50 and 100 people were waiting on the beach. About 30 
     jumped aboard and the boat began pulling away. At that point, 
     Cuban Frontier Guards opened fire.
       Hoddinott told the official that he raised his hands in 
     surrender but the guards continued firing. Cuban officials 
     said the troops were firing at the engines to disable the 
     boat.
       The State Department has not determined whether any of the 
     others jailed in Cuba over the weekend are U.S. citizens.
       Cuban officials in Washington defended the crackdown on 
     illegal entries into Cuban territory.
       ``We are going to continue picking up all boats that keep 
     arriving in Cuban waters with the goal of smuggling people,'' 
     said Jose Luis Ponce, spokesman for the Cuban Interests 
     Section in Washington. ``We are not going to allow them to 
     continue violating our sovereignty.''
                                  ____


          Arrest May Signal New Cuban Push Against Dissidents

                          (By Mimi Whitefield)

       Human rights monitors say they fear the detention of 
     Francisco Chaviano, a leading advocate for rafters who was 
     compiling a list of Cubans who have disappeared at sea, could 
     mark an escalation of repression against leaders of Cuban 
     dissident groups.
       Chaviano is being held at Villa Marista state security 
     headquarters and apparently will be charged with revealing 
     state secrets. He was arrested May 7, shortly after a man he 
     didn't know visited his home and left documents that 
     allegedly detailed human rights problems.
       Family members said Chaviano hadn't even had time to read 
     the papers when state security agents arrived and took him to 
     Villa Marista.
       ``He has never worked with state secrets'' and has been 
     very public about his work in defense of human rights. 
     Chaviano's wife, Ana Aguililla, told the Spanish news agency 
     EFE.
       Aguililla also told diplomats in Havana that at first the 
     government was considering charging Chaviano with illicit 
     enrichment, but now he is being accused of the more serious 
     charge, which carries a penalty of four to 10 years, or eight 
     to 15 years if the accused learned of the secrets through 
     illegal means.
       ``It looks like a provocation,'' said Ricardo Bofill, 
     president of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights.
       Moises Rodriguez Quesada, spokesman for the Coordinating 
     Council of Human Rights Organizations in Cuba, issued a 
     statement, denouncing the government's action, Chaviano is 
     co-president of the umbrella group and also is president of 
     the National Council of Civil Rights in Cuba.


                        escalation of repression

       ``In my opinion the detention of Professor Chaviano, an 
     honest and peaceful defender of human rights, could mark the 
     beginning of a true escalation of repression, intolerance and 
     covert actions of the repressive apparatus to break up the 
     small militant opposition and try to discredit its leaders,'' 
     the statement said.
       Bofill said there is a developing trend in Cuba of charging 
     leading dissidents--especially those involved in collecting 
     denunciations of human rights abuses--with more serious 
     crimes and sentencing them to longer prison terms.
       ``One hypothesis is that the government is trying to 
     diminish the flow of denunciations abroad,'' he said.
       For the past three years Chaviano's group has been 
     investigating Cubans who have lost their lives trying to make 
     the treacherous ocean crossing to Florida.
       State security agents seized all the documents related to 
     rafters' disappearances, as well as other papers, when they 
     searched Chaviano's home in the seaside town of Jaimanitas. 
     The homes of four other members of Chaviano's group were also 
     searched.


                       documented rafter epidemic

       Chaviano, a former mathematics teacher, was trying to 
     document as precisely as possible the names, ages, addresses, 
     dates of departure and circumstances under which rafters 
     disappeared.
       ``It's like an epidemic--like alcoholism. It's claiming so 
     many lives,'' said Chaviano in 1991 when he began making the 
     list.
       ``Inside the island, Chaviano was really the key player in 
     this investigation,'' Bofill said. ``It's very difficult 
     work.''
       Bofill said it was unclear whether any copies are available 
     of Chaviano's work on rafters.
       Chaviano, who spent a year in prison after he was caught 
     trying to leave Cuba in a leaky boat in March, 1989, was one 
     of the founders of the Cuban Rafters Council, a group that 
     tried to defend the rights of Cubans imprisoned for ``illegal 
     flight.''
       His interests later evolved to include a more general 
     defense of human rights, but he still took a special interest 
     in the plight of rafters.
       Chaviano's detention came shortly before a new report by 
     the Organization of American States' Inter-American Human 
     Rights Commission began circulating among OAS member nations. 
     It contains a 20-page section on Cuba that expresses concern 
     that respect for human rights in Cuba is on the verge of a 
     further decline.
       ``The accentuated repression of independent organizations 
     by the Cuban government, and the very grave economic 
     difficulties that the Cuban people face, have provoked 
     situations whose evolution foresees a marked deterioration of 
     Cuban society in general and the human rights situation in 
     particular,'' noted the report, which will be formally 
     released in June.


                      cuba cited for other abuses

       The OAS report also faults Cuba for the high number of 
     Cubans imprisoned for long periods before trial, the use of 
     psychiatry as a form of intimidation against those 
     disaffected with the regime, and stiff sentences meted out to 
     Cubans accused of trying to destroy the political system and 
     those convicted under the catch-all crime of dangerousness.
       Bofill said a growing number of dissidents have been 
     arrested in recent years after being approached by people who 
     said they had inside knowledge of human rights abuses.
       Among them are Yndamiro Restano and his assistant Maria 
     Elena Aparicio, who were sentenced to 10 years and seven 
     years, respectively, in 1992. Their arrests came a short time 
     after Restano was approached by military men who said they 
     wanted to talk about human rights abuses within the armed 
     forces, Bofill said.
       Also in 1992, Omar del Pozo was accused for revealing state 
     secrets. He is now serving a 15-year sentence. The chief 
     witness against him was a police agent who had infiltrated 
     del Pozo's human rights group.
       Despite the tendency toward longer prison terms, Bofill 
     said Havana's strategy has only been partially successful.
       ``There is more repression; there are more people in prison 
     now, but the number of denunciations [of abuses presented by 
     human rights activists] hasn't decreased at all.'' Bofill 
     said.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the sponsor of this 
resolution, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Menendez], and others 
joining in this debate today, for focusing our attention on this brutal 
and deliberate violation of human rights.
  The 40 innocent people who lost their lives at sea on July 13, 1994, 
will not have died in vain if the world holds Fidel Castro and his 
repressive security apparatus accountable for this ruthless act.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States is often accused of being obsessed 
with Cuba, particularly Castro's human rights record. I would submit 
that if ours were the last government on earth willing to press this 
issue, we should continue to do so.
  Moreover, we should stand our ground with other countries and 
organizations that appear far too willing to react to the rhetoric 
about U.S. policy toward Cuba and then ignore the cold, hard facts 
about Castro's repression. Too often, these cases are met with silence.
  For those who wonder what drives our tough Cuba policy, ask Maria 
Victoria Garcia, a survivor who lost her husband, her 10-year-old son, 
her brother, three uncles, and two cousins who died in this deliberate 
attack on a doomed Cuban tugboat.
  I support the resolution and commend its sponsor, Mr. Menendez. I 
understand that in the course of drafting this language some concrete 
assurances were made by the Administration and our representatives at 
the O.A.S. and U.N. that they will press the Cuba human rights issue 
with new vigor. We will monitor their efforts and hold them to that 
pledge.
  Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege in joining with 
Congressman Robert Menendez and 13 of my colleagues as a sponsor of H. 
Con. Res. 279, which condemns the government of Cuba for the deliberate 
sinking of a tugboat called the ``13th of March'' and for the Cuban 
government's cailous disregard for the lives of its 72 passengers. I 
strongly urge my colleagues to support passage of this resolution.
  The sinking of the ``13th of March'' was completely avoidable. Still, 
37 people, including women, infants and children, drowned as a result 
of this murderous act--yet another example of the Cuban government's 
officially-sanctioned policy of terror toward its own citizens.
  According to survivors, the ``13th of March'' set sail from Havana 
but was soon followed by three tugboats from the port authority of 
Havana.
  These government vessels could have stopped the ``13th of March'' at 
any time. Instead, in the pre-dawn hours of July 13, 1994, when the 
``13th of March'' was 7 miles off the Cuban shore, the authority's tugs 
pounded the passengers with water cannon and then rammed the helpless 
tugboat until it sunk only 5 minutes later. Two Cuban military gunboats 
were positioned a few hundred yards away observing while the ramming 
was underway.
  As the helpless victims struggled in the water to hold onto life, the 
crews of the authority's tugs stood by and watched dozens drown. 
Finally, the Cuban gunboats moved in to fish out of the water the 
remaining survivors--fewer than half of the passengers.
  Mr. Speaker, with this resolution today we go on record condemning 
this criminal act, an act which horrifies all civilized people. The 
helpless victims of the ``13th of March'' will not be forgotten.
  Let there be no mistake in anyone's mind of the true nature of 
Castro's own cruel brand of repression of the people of Cuba. And also 
let there be no doubt that, despite this completely avoidable tragedy, 
the valiant people of Cuba will never give up.
  The days are numbered for Castro's brutal dictatorship. It will not 
prevail, and the people of Cuba will one day live in their proud land 
in peace and freedom.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. de la Garza). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Menendez] that the 
House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. 
Res. 279, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 5, rule 
1, and the Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this 
motion will be postponed.

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