[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 101 (Wednesday, July 16, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1436-E1437]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE VICTIMS OF THE ``13TH OF MARCH'' TUGBOAT MASSACRE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 16, 1997

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, we recently marked the third 
anniversary of one of the many heinous crimes committed by the Castro 
regime against the enslaved people of Cuba.
  It was on July 13, 1994, that a group of 72 Cuban refugees boarded 
the ``13th of March'' tugboat in an effort to find freedom in the 
shores of the United States. But shortly thereafter their vessel was 
ambushed and savagely attacked by Cuban gunboats while still in Cuban 
waters.
  Survivors tell the tale of how Cuban authorities mercilessly fired 
water cannons at the liberty seeking refugees, while at the same time 
ramming the tugboat in an effort to destroy it. Women and children 
screamed for pity--for mercy--but their cries for help went unanswered.
  As the boat sank, refugees scrambled for their lives in the deep, 
warm ocean of the Caribbean, but it was all in vain for the Cuban 
gunboats circled the sinking ships creating a

[[Page E1437]]

whirlpool that literally sucked the life of the refugees. Among the 
dead were 2-year-old Sixdy Rodriguez, 3-year-old Angel Rene Abreu, and 
dozens of other women and children. The death toll is estimated at 42, 
but we will never know the exact number.
  This is the brutality that the Cuban people have faced daily for the 
past 38 years and it is why this Congress and this Government must 
continue to do all it can to help the Cuban people in their struggle to 
achieve freedom.

                          ____________________