Writings - Cuba Crossing
Expedition brings relief to impoverished island
Thursday, April 29, 1993
MARINA HEMINGWAY, Cuba – Journalists outnumbered yachtsmen in Cuba's Marina Hemingway Sunday as a scaled-back flotilla carrying humanitarian aid from the United States arrived in this tourist enclave just outside Havana.
The made-to-order media event took place at a marina that was transformed for the occasion, with fresh coats of paint on every curb, newly-refurbished docks and a fleet of rental cars in a lot that had been empty before.
"We've been trying to rent a car for a week," noted Northville Lumber owner Stewart Oldford Sr., whose 42-foot trawler Newfie Bullet had arrived April 18. "The rental car agents kept saying, 'Manana,'" Spanish for tomorrow.
That word is frequently heard in this beleaguered island nation, reeling from a 32-year-old U.S. trade embargo, the withdrawal of massive Soviet economic and military aid two years ago and a March storm that leveled crops and wreaked an estimated $1 billion in damages.
The crisis prompted Key West publisher John J. Young to organize the flotilla under the banner "Basta," Spanish for enough.
Oldford and Northville restaurateur John Genitti had planned to sail into Cuban waters on a combined pleasure trip and information-gathering expedition when they learned of the relief trip. The Newfie Bullet was pressed into service for the flotilla when Genitti called Young for tips on traveling to the communist country.
The yachts originally were scheduled to depart April 17-18, but the sailing date was pushed back a week at the request of the Cuban government. The Newfie Bullet, already set for an April 18 crossing, stuck to its original schedule.
The final flotilla, which Young said had swelled to 35 vessels before the Cuban government limited its number to 20, shrank further last weekend as many captains decided not to brave the high winds and rough seas that were predicted.
Those who did faced 10- to 12-foot ocean swells in the Florida Straits, according to one captain. Only seven vessels had arrived at the marina by midnight Sunday, and the ship carrying many journalists broke down at sea and was towed into the harbor after midnight.
Still, dozens of reporters were on hand just before 2 p.m. when the Southern Cross, a 53-foot ketch, cleared customs. Cameramen and photographers swarmed the docks as the sailing vessel tied up.
First mate Duke Pontin said he found all the media attention disturbing.
"Why is this such a big deal?" he asked. "In a way, this is doing just what some people said they didn't want to do, which is to help (Fidel) Castro."
The relief flotilla has drawn controversy since its inception.
U.S.-based Cuban organizations opposed to Castro's 34 years of communist rule, including the powerful Cuban American National Foundation, protest that such efforts only help shore up his government.
Signs reading "No to the Flotilla" and "Basta de Basta" dotted Key West in the days before the flotilla's departure and several protesters lined the docks Saturday as the first boats left.
Flotilla organizers argued the aid was to be turned over to non-governmental relief agencies. Hector Rodriquez Bastar, vice secretary general of the Red Cross in Cuba, paced the docks Sunday as uniformed Red Cross personnel unloaded the supplies onto two waiting flatbed trucks.
"Everything that's here will go to the people, the people who will really benefit from it," Bastar said through a translator.
The nine tons of supplies included a million vitamin B-1 capsules, a thousand Bibles, sacks of rice, bags of clothing and quilts, and medical supplies and equipment.