No More Trips

As the MSM is in a trance with the Alito hearings and the NSA leak - and completely dissing the 7-Mile- Bridge-15, at least someone seems to be paying some attention to Cuba.

The Miami Herald has today two stories concerning the trips to Cuba and the 15 balseros. The US government is actively contacting and following up on the illegal trips to Cuba of two organizations - Pastors for Peace, and the commies of Brigada Venceremos. The purpose is to eventually fine them and collect the money. This will hopefully deter other groups, such as the wacko Pinkies, from illegally traveling to Cuba at the expense of the Cuban people in the island. The whole story is here.

The second story covers the visit of the director of the Office of Cuban Affairs and the Cuba Transition Coordinator to Miami, for a luncheon in Coral Gables with exile groups. This gave the groups the wonderful opportunity to bring their frustrations about the repatriated 15 to Bush officials, in order to bring their attention to how inhumane this policy, and its recent interpretation is. The groups are also mobilizing strong efforts in Washington D.C. to lobby in favor of a revision of the law. Maybe 2006 is the year that we see this absurd policy go back to what it used to be, and make the Hermanos al Rescate again the Brothers to the Rescue. The story is here.

February 24, 1996 - 10 Years Later

UPDATE: The Kansas City Star picked up the Miami Herald story.


I was thinking what to do to remember such a tragic day, in a way that would honor the three US Citizens and the one US Resident that were murdered by the Cuban government ten years ago while flying over international waters. Not only did the Cuban government down two civilian planes, which they knew very well were Brother to the Rescue civilian planes, killing four innocent men, but they did so in international airspace over international waters.

Four lives were lost that day 10 years ago, four lives that were assassinated and a crime that has go unpunished - the Clinton government was too busy on other "affairs" (pun intended) to care about three US Citizens and one US Resident murdered by an enemy state.

After listening to the recording of the hijos de puta that downed the planes, after listening to them celebrate I realized the best thing I could do to honor these men, the only thing I could do, was to never forget and make sure others never forget either. It's hard to write my feelings of this event, but Robert at 26th Parallel did so much better than I ever could. His feelings echo mine.

If you can't bring yourself to listen to the recording there is also this visual as a radar image from the new documentary on the Shootdown.

You can get more information on this incident here, here and here.
Related News links:
Miami honra pilotos asesinados, Honrar victimas de Hermanos al Rescate

Related Postings:
Babalú, Blog for Cuba, Paxety, Uncommon Sense and KillCastro

Tags: Cuba, Brothers to the Rescue

The duality of February 24th

Diario Las Americas has an excellent article of why this date if one of celebration and profound sadness for Cubans.

In the late 1800's, 1895 to be exact, was el Grito de Baire, the beginning of the independence movement across Cuba. The start of a proud nation wanting to break free from Spanish rule.

But on 1997, el Grito de Baire, took a tragic turn; the downing of two planes of Brothers to the Rescue by the Castro regime. An open act of violence, of murder, and one that our government has chosen to ignore. Four people died that day. Four people whose death has found no justice. Four civilian men who were murdered by the Castro militia on purpose.

We can debate whether or not we agreed with Basulto's tactic; however no one can debate that the downing of two civilian and unarmed planes over international waters was a criminal act.

You can read my post from last year which includes the recording of the MIGs and the Cuban Air Force as they celebrate this assasination and also a link to the graphic representation of the downing.

Last year's post also includes various posts from other Cuban-American blogs.