Fact Sheet on July 13, 1994 "13 de Marzo" Tugboat Massacre

Reconciliation necessitates both truth and justice.

 

On July 13, 1994, a group of 72 Cubans, including children and women, tried to escape from the Island of Cuba aboard an old tugboat. State Security Forces, and four Coast Guard boats of the Havana regime intercepted the boat 7 miles off the coast of Cuba, with water jets from pressure hoses pulled people off the deck, tore the children from the arms of their mothers and sank the tugboat. 37 people were murdered, 11 of them children.  

Fact 1:  In the early morning hours of July 13, 1994, four boats belonging to the Cuban State and equipped with water hoses attacked an old tugboat that was fleeing Cuba with 72 people on board.  The incident occurred seven miles off the Cuban coast, opposite the port of Havana.  The complaint also indicates that the Cuban State boats attacked the runaway tug with their prows with the intention of sinking it, while at the same time spraying everyone on the deck of the boat, including women and children, with pressurized water.  The pleas of the women and children to stop the attack were in vain, and the old boat--named "13 de Marzo"--sank, with a toll of 41 deaths, including ten minors.  Thirty-one people survived the events of July 13, 1994.

Source:  IACHR REPORT Nº 47/96 CASE 11.436 VICTIMS OF THE TUGBOAT "13 DE MARZO" vs. CUBA     October 16, 1996  http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/96eng/Cuba11436.htm

Fact 2: According to eyewitnesses who survived the disaster, no sooner had the tug "13 de Marzo" set off from the Cuban port than two boats from the same state enterprise began pursuing it.  About 45 minutes into the trip, when the tug was seven miles away from the Cuban coast--in a place known as "La Poceta"--two other boats belonging to said enterprise appeared, equipped with tanks and water hoses, proceeded to attack the old tug.  "Polargo 2," one of the boats belonging to the Cuban state enterprise, blocked the old tug "13 de Marzo" in the front, while the other, "Polargo 5," attacked from behind, splitting the stern.  The two other government boats positioned themselves on either side and sprayed everyone on deck with pressurized water, using their hoses.

Source:  IACHR REPORT Nº 47/96 CASE 11.436 VICTIMS OF THE TUGBOAT "13 DE MARZO" vs. CUBA     October 16, 1996  http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/96eng/Cuba11436.htm

Fact 3: The pleas of the women and children on the deck of the tug "13 de Marzo" did nothing to stop the attack.  The boat sank, with a toll of 41 dead.  Many people perished because the jets of water directed at everyone on deck forced them to seek refuge in the engine room.  The survivors also affirmed that the crews of the four Cuban government boats were dressed in civilian clothes and that they did not help them when they were sinking.

Source:  IACHR REPORT Nº 47/96 CASE 11.436 VICTIMS OF THE TUGBOAT "13 DE MARZO" vs. CUBA     October 16, 1996  http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/96eng/Cuba11436.htm

Fact 4: In  the  days  immediately  following  the  tragedy,  the  authorities  attempted  to  prevent  any protest or public demonstration of grief.    A mass for the victims had to be cancelled and people  wearing  black  armbands  as  a  sign  of  mourning  were  also  reportedly  detained briefly.    Relatives  of  the  victims were  also  reportedly  prevented  from  throwing  flowers into the sea on the grounds that that is only usually done for “martyrs of the Revolution”. On  23  July  1994 Aida  Rosa  Jiménezof  the Movimiento  de  Madres  Cubanas  Por  la Solidaridad,  Movement  of  Cuban  Mothers  for  Solidarity,  which  had  called  on  Cuba women to wear black or purple ribbons for three days as a sign of mourning, was arrested at her home and taken to State Security headquarters at Villa Marista. She was reportedly told by officials that it was because of her efforts to encourage people to attend a mass in commemoration of the victims of the tugboat sinking.

Source: Amnesty International "Human Rights Defenders and Activists  Cuba: The sinking of the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat on 13 July 1994" 30 June 1997, Index number: AMR 25/013/1997  https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr25/013/1997/en/ 

Fact 5: In  1996,  in  his  report  to  the  52nd  Session  of  the  UN  Commission  on  Human Rights7, the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions stated that he had transmitted allegations concerning the case to the Cuban Government in June 1995  and  expressed  deep  concern  that  he  had  not  received  a reply.  He  urged  that  the allegations  be properly investigated, the perpetrators brought to justice and the victims’ families compensated.    The UN Special Rapporteur on Cuba, in his interim report to the UN General Assembly dated 7 October 1996, also expressed serious concern “about the fact that an event of this magnitude, in which 37 people died, has not been investigated”. 

Source: Amnesty International "Human Rights Defenders and Activists  Cuba: The sinking of the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat on 13 July 1994" 30 June 1997, Index number: AMR 25/013/1997  https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr25/013/1997/en/  

Fact 6:  Despite consistent testimonies that four Transportation Ministry boats fired water cannons onto the decks of the tugboat and later rammed and sank it, President Castro denied a government role in the sinking.131 Although President Castro asserted that Cuba had fully investigated the incident, the commission noted that Cuba never recovered the bodies lost in the tugboat, nor the boat itself, and concluded that "there was no judicial investigation and the political organs directed by the Cuban Chief of State rushed to absolve of all responsibility the officials who went to meet the 13 de Marzo tugboat."132

Source: Human Rights Watch,Cuba's Repressive Machinery https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-11.htm  (1999)

Fact 7:  The victims who died in the incident of July 13, 1994 are:  Leonardo Notario Góngora (27), Marta Tacoronte Vega (36), Caridad Leyva Tacoronte (36), Yausel Eugenio Pérez Tacoronte (11), Mayulis Méndez Tacoronte (17), Odalys Muñoz García (21), Pilar Almanza Romero (30), Yaser Perodín Almanza (11), Manuel Sánchez Callol (58), Juliana Enriquez Carrasana (23), Helen Martínez Enríquez (6 months), Reynaldo Marrero (45), Joel García Suárez (24), Juan Mario Gutiérrez García (10), Ernesto Alfonso Joureiro (25), Amado Gonzáles Raices (50), Lázaro Borges Priel (34), Liset Alvarez Guerra (24), Yisel Borges Alvarez (4), Guillermo Cruz Martínez (46), Fidelio Ramel Prieto-Hernández (51), Rosa María Alcalde Preig (47), Yaltamira Anaya Carrasco (22), José Carlos Nicole Anaya (3), María Carrasco Anaya (44), Julia Caridad Ruiz Blanco (35), Angel René Abreu Ruiz (3), Jorge Arquímides Lebrijio Flores (28), Eduardo Suárez Esquivel (39), Elicer Suárez Plascencia, Omar Rodríguez Suárez (33), Miralis Fernández Rodríguez (28), Cindy Rodríguez Fernández (2), José Gregorio Balmaceda Castillo (24), Rigoberto Feut Gonzáles (31), Midalis Sanabria Cabrera (19).

Source:  IACHR REPORT Nº 47/96 CASE 11.436 VICTIMS OF THE TUGBOAT "13 DE MARZO" vs. CUBA     October 16, 1996  http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/96eng/Cuba11436.htm

Fact 8:  Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, who was murdered on July 22, 2012 by state security agents, addressed the significance of this crime. "Behind the Christ of Havana, about seven miles from the coast, "volunteers" of the Communist regime committed one of the most heinous crimes in the history of our city and of Cuba." ... "Let the silenced bells toll. But let them toll for all the victims of terror that in reality is only one sole victim: the Cuban people that without distinctions, suffers the loss of each one of their children." 

Source: Human Rights Watch,Cuba's Repressive Machinery https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-11.htm  (1999)

Dead Refugees and the Cuban Foreign Minister's Crocodile Tears

The Castro regime has the custom of declaring that the U.S. has "no moral authority" to criticize the systemic human rights violations that go on in Cuba. However, officials from the dictatorship do not follow their own advice.

Last week on June 26th, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez tweeted about the tragic death of Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria, two refugees, who drowned trying to reach the United States.  Castro's foreign minister blamed capitalism for causing the poverty that led to their desire to migrate. These are crocodile tears and recent Cuban history bears this out.

Diosbel Díaz Bioto went missing December 16, 2014

On December 16, 2014 the Cuban coastguard ram and sank a boat with 32 refugees, one of them, Diosbel Díaz Bioto, went missing and is assumed drowned.

Yuriniesky Martínez Reina, age 28, (pictured above in organge) was shot in the back by state security chief Miguel Angel Río Seco Rodríguez in the Martí municipality of Matanzas, Cuba on April 9, 2015 for trying to leave Cuba. He was part of a group of young men building a boat near Menéndez beach to flee the island, and were shot at by state security when they were spotted trying to leave.  Yuriniesky was found face down in some brush two days later by his brother.

These are not isolated cases but a pattern that stretches back decades. The Castro regime has a history of extreme cruelty against Cuban refugees and migrants, and those who try to document what happens to them. Below is a partial accounting.

July 13th will mark 25 years since the sinking of the "13 de marzo"tugboat massacre were 37 Cubans, of which 11 were children, were massacred by Castro regime agents six miles from the Havana coast line. Wrote about this crime in greater detail on June 13th and quoted some of the observations made by Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas on the incident. However the previous post failed to list the names of the 37 massacre victims, all killed on July 13, 1994. Below are the names listed by age.

Hellen Martínez Enriquez. Age: 5 Months
Xicdy Rodríguez Fernández. Age: 2
Angel René Abreu Ruíz. Age: 3
José Carlos Niclas Anaya. Age: 3
Giselle Borges Alvarez. Age: 4
Caridad Leyva Tacoronte. Age: 5
Juan Mario Gutiérrez García. Age: 10
Yousell Eugenio Pérez Tacoronte. Age: 11
Yasser Perodín Almanza. Age: 11
Eliécer Suárez Plasencia. Age: 12
Mayulis Méndez Tacoronte. Age: 17
Miladys Sanabria Leal. Age: 19
Joel García Suárez. Age: 20
Odalys Muñoz García. Age: 21
Yalta Mila Anaya Carrasco. Age: 22
Luliana Enríquez Carrazana. Age: 22
Jorge Gregorio Balmaseda Castillo. Age: 24
Lissett María Alvarez Guerra. Age: 24
Ernesto Alfonso Loureiro. Age: 25
María Miralis Fernández Rodríguez. Age: 27
Leonardo Notario Góngora. Age: 28
Jorge Arquímedes Levrígido Flores. Age: 28
Pilar Almanza Romero. Age: 31
Rigoberto Feu González. Age: 31
Omar Rodríguez Suárez. Age: 33
Lázaro Enrique Borges Briel. Age: 34
Julia Caridad Ruíz Blanco. Age: 35
Martha Caridad Tacoronte Vega. Age: 35
Eduardo Suárez Esquivel. Age: 38
Martha Mirella Carrasco Sanabria. Age: 45
Augusto Guillermo Guerra Martínez. Age: 45
Rosa María Alcalde Puig. Age: 47
Estrella Suárez Esquivel. Age: 48
Reynaldo Joaquín Marrero Alamo. Age: 48
Amado González Raices. Age: 50
Fidencio Ramel Prieto Hernández. Age: 51
Manuel Cayol. Age: 56 

One year earlier eyewitness accounts from the Guantanamo Naval Base reported crimes against humanity.  U.S. soldiers patrolling the perimeter of the base were surprised by the sounds of explosions then horrified by what they observed. This led to a formal diplomatic note to the Cuban government by the Clinton Administration. This in turn led to a front page story in The Miami Herald on July 7, 1993 which described what had been witnessed:

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.

Human rights defenders who attempted to quantify the numbers of dead or missing refugees were targeted by state security and made a cautionary example. Francisco Chaviano González, a former mathematics teacher, and human rights defender was the president of the National Council for Civil Rights in Cuba (Consejo Nacional por los Derechos Civiles en Cuba - CNDCC), an organization whose work included "documenting the cases of Cubans who have been lost at sea trying to leave the country."

Francisco Chaviano: 13 years jailed for investigating missing Cubans

Chaviano was trying to investigate the cases of a number of Cubans who had gone missing. He was  warned by state security to stop his human rights work or he would be arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He refused to leave and was detained on May 7, 1994, drugged and subjected to a military trial and sentenced to 15 years in prison of which he served over 13 years in terrible conditions suffering numerous beatings and the denial of healthcare which led to a wholesale decline in his health. Amnesty International recognized Chaviano as a prisoner of conscience. Chaviano was released on August 10, 2007. He was forced into exile in 2012.

The Cuban government with these draconian measures has succeeded in preventing systematic reporting of its worse crimes. According to the 1993 U.S. protest note, U.S. military guards surveying the bay 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.
* 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.

In a July 22, 2007 interview in El Nuevo Herald, Amado Veloso Vega described what happened to him in 1992 when he was just 21 years old and trying to leave Cuba "managed to crawl through the third barrier between Cuban territory and the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo when the warning flares lit the night sky."  He thought he'd stay in "no-man's land." till dawn, confident the Cuban guards could not enter. "But then he heard shots, and when he tried to move, a mine exploded, destroying his legs and flinging him 15 feet.  

Amado Veloso Vega in 2007

 With no strength to shout, Veloso lay there until he heard the soldiers approach." "Strips of flesh dangled from my legs. I was disfigured and my mouth was torn," he recalled.  One of the soldiers said that he "wouldn't make it alive" to the hospital in Guantanamo. According to Amado,  they started to play with him. They bayoneted him in the hand and in the leg and then pulled him off the fence. Veloso showed his scars.  They took him directly to the morgue. There, a doctor wouldn't give up, injecting him with adrenaline. Veloso was revived.  For attempting to leave, he was sentenced Veloso to two years house arrest at his Havana home. Veloso tried to remake and requested prosthetic legs at a Havana hospital. According to Amado, "[t]hey concluded that my accident was due to my attempt to leave the country illegally and told me the (prostheses) they had were for revolutionaries and fighters back from Angola."   They refused to give him the prostheses.

Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas who spoke out on the July 13, 1994 "13 de marzo" tugboat massacre was killed on July 22, 2012 along with Harold Cepero in what appears to have been an extrajudicial killing arranged by the Castro regime's secret police.

This history must not be relegated to an Orwellian memory hole because impunity breeds repetition, and costs more lives. The Castro regime must be held to account. As should all who engage in acts that violate human rights and dignity wherever they are. 

On July 10th at 8pm there will be a 25 minute silent candlelight vigil in front of the Cuban Embassy in Washington, DC. Over the past 25 years the days leading up to this grim anniversary have been marked by protests and vigils inside and outside Cuba. If you are in the DC area and wish to take part in a solemn and nonviolent protest then please join us. Elie Wiesel  was right, “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.” 

Human Rights in Cuba: Shadow UPR and three Cubans killed during the span of the current review

 “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” - Flannery O'Connor

Over the past few days this blog highlighted three cases from the past four years that highlight the cruelty of the Castro regime: in 2014 a blind attorney beaten down by state security agents; in 2015 a human rights defender and mother lost her hand and the use of her knees in a machete attack ordered by regime agents in reprisal for trying to keep a school open; and in 2016 a Cuban doctor was beaten down in front of his wife and children and taken to prison where he remains today suffering assaults and ill treatment for giving his honest opinion of the legacy of Fidel Castro.

Today in Geneva, Switzerland just steps away from where the Universal Periodic Review will be held on May 16th there was a self-described "Shadow UPR" that highlighted more recent cases, and the steps taken by the dictatorship in Cuba to avoid being held accountable. Below are the videos of the entire event and are worth watching.



Sadly there are those who will be unable to do so because they were victims of extrajudicial killings carried out by agents of the Castro over the past four years. Below are three cases, but sadly there are more.

Yunisledy Lopez Rodriguez: Brutally murdered at age 23 in 2014

Yunisledy Lopez Rodriguez was 23 years old, the mother of two small children and she lived in Vista Alegre, in the Municipality of Majabiquoa in Las Tunas, Cuba. She had suffered harassment from state security agents, who had wanted to evict her and her children from their home for her activism in the Civics and Truth movement.

Yunisledy found out that her then boyfriend "Ruber" had been given the order to kill Cuban dissident Sirley Avila Leon by state security. Yunisledy immediately told Sirley Avila Leon of the danger and on May 21,  2014 when Sirley's home was set on fire formally complained to the police. She reported that her partner had told her that he would murder Sirley and that through the above action had attempted to carry it out. The police never made a pronouncement on the matter and did nothing. 

Afterwards "Ruber" warned Yunisledy and told her that if she did not want to be killed that she should join him in Camaguey where he had been given the possibility to work as a "cuenta propista"  as a reward for carrying out his arson attack against Sirley Avila Leon and to give the impression that he was in a prison elsewhere. [This is an aspect of the job sector opportunities that Amnesty missed in their report.]

She  denounced the new threat to the police but no action was taken against him and he went away. After two months approximately September 20-21, 2014, another man,  the father of her young son appears at her home and tells her that he'll kill her. But instead rapes her in front of her children and leaves.

Immediately she went to the police and made a complaint because he was supposedly a prison escapee, but the police took no action. They told her not to worry that he was already back in prison. Yunisledy called Sirley on September 24, 2014 and told her that they both knew why he was being sent to kill her. Yunisledy asked Sirley to care for her children because she had no police protection.

On September 26, 2014 while preparing food for her children the individual known as "El Tejon" entered the house and stabbed her 18 times in front of her two kids. This was done to give the appearance of a crime of passion.

Diosbel Díaz Bioto killed on December 16, 2014

 On December 16, 2014 the Cuban coastguard ram and sank a boat with 32 refugees, one of them, Diosbel Díaz Bioto, was killed. Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country." This is completely and systematically violated in Cuba. 

Yuriniesky Martínez with his dad, son, and on (right) how he was found in 2015

Yuriniesky Martínez Reina (age 28) was killed by state security chief Miguel Angel Río Seco Rodríguez in the Martí municipality of Matanzas, Cuba on April 9, 2015 for trying to leave Cuba. He was part of a group of young men who were building a boat near Menéndez beach to flee the island, when they were spotted trying to leave and were shot at by state security. Yuriniesky was shot in the back and left to die.  He was found face down in some brush.

Presentación de Libro: “El Hundimiento del Remolcador 13 de Marzo” por Jorge A. García

This event is in Spanish, but if you want to learn more about this topic in English then visit here for information on the sinking of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat massacre of July 13, 1994 off the coast of Havana by agents of the Castro regime. This is not an isolated incident but part of the Castro regime's pattern of repression which also includes an act of international state terrorism in which three U.S. citizens and one resident were extrajudicially executed on the Castro brothers' orders. Below is the invite to event and an interview with the author from 2009 and excerpts from the event on January 19, 2017.

El Instituto de Estudios Cubanos y Cubanos-Americanos

Anuncia la presentación del libro

“EL HUNDIMIENTO DEL REMOLCADOR 13 DE MARZO”

por

Jorge A. García

                                   

El 13 de julio de 1994, García Más Jorge Andrés (nombre en Cuba) pierde 14 familiares en el hundimiento del remolcador 13 de marzo. Hecho criminal cometido por el régimen cubano, a siete millas del litoral habanero, donde mueren infinidad de niños, madres y personas inocentes, ahogados en el mar. Desde entonces, García comienza a investigar el hecho por su cuenta y logra en unión de sus colaboradores, hacer entrevistas y obtener fotos que evidencian la naturaleza criminal del suceso. El fruto de este trabajo de terreno por las calles de La Habana, queda atrapado en las páginas de lo que en principio se bautiza bajo el nombre de “SOS a siete millas del litoral”, más tarde denominado “El hundimiento del remolcador 13 de marzo”.

PRESENTACIÓN:   Carlos Alberto Montaner, periodista y escritor, autor de numerosos libros.  Su columna periodística aparece semanalmente en docenas de publicaciones de Europa, América Latina y Estados Unidos.  Carlos Alberto es investigador asociado a ICCAS.
                   

AUTOR:   Jorge A. Garcia, es autor de numerosos libros, entre ellos “Un grito de amor” poemario romántico, ganador del Premio Nacional de Cuento con la obra Operación Secuestro, La Habana 1997; Premio de Ensayo con la obra, Un jubileo por los Derechos, esbozo y reflexiones y Convocatoria por el 50 aniversario de la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos, 1er lugar Cuba 1998.  Ya en Miami trabaja en la radio “La Voz de la Fundación” como locutor y guionista de programas especiales en el área digital; en “La Poderosa” programa Medicina, Arte y Cultura junto al Dr. Omar Vento; y en Radio Paz programa “Así es mi Cuba”. Actualmente, García conduce su programa “Íntimamente” en un espacio radial, de 24 horas en Online, de la emisora global Ivoox.com..  También colabora con instituciones literarias y participa de Concursos en distintos países donde gana algunas menciones.   

FECHA: Jueves 19 de enero, 2017
                6:30 Recepción
                7:00 p.m. Presentación


LUGAR: Casa Bacardi
                 Instituto de Estudios Cubanos  y Cubano-Americanos
                 Universidad de Miami,
                 1531 Brescia Avenida,
                 Coral Gables, FL  33146

RSVP:     Para reservar llamar al Instituto al
                 (305) 284-CUBA (2822).
                 Capacidad limitada.

Why the disappearance of 43 students in Mexico hits close to home for Cubans

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. - Martin Luther King Jr.

Mural of 43 missing (now assumed murdered) Mexican students

 The apparent murder of 43 Mexican students taken by criminal gangs in collusion with the local authorities on September 26, 2014 is an outrage that has sparked protests across Mexico and international scrutiny.  Amnesty International in a October 7, 2014 urgent action reported on what had taken place:

The 43 students remain disappeared since 26 September in the city of Iguala, Guerrero state, southern Mexico. Around 25 of them had been arrested by municipal police, while those remaining were abducted by unidentified armed men operating with the acquiescence of local authorities, a few hours later. All missing students are victims of enforced disappearances.

 On November 7, 2014 at a news conference Jesus Murillo Karam, the Mexican Attorney General, announced that the students disappeared in rural Ayotzinapa had been "abducted by police on order of a local mayor, and are believed to have been turned over to a gang that killed them and burned their bodies before throwing some remains in a river." Putting an end to the press conference Murillo raised his eyebrows and said: "Ya me canse" or "I'm tired" and has now gone viral with the hashtags #YaMeCanse and #estoycansado.

For Cubans this massacre twenty years after the July 13, 1994 “13 de Marzo” tugboat massacre when 37 Cubans were massacred by government officials is particularly shocking and strikes close to home as does the indifference manifested online by Nestle that made a joke out of the murder of these students to promote their Crunch candy bar. Twenty years later in July of 2014 in New York City, Washington DC, Miami and in Cuba demonstrations in the memory of the 37 massacred Cubans were held. All these years later and the victims are not forgotten. This will also be the case for these 43 students. This is a crime that will not be forgotten but remembered for years to come.

Both in the 1994 murder of 37 Cuban refugees and the 2014 murder of 43 Mexican students a Pope spoke out  on behalf of the victims. In the first case it was Pope John Paul II and in the latter Pope Francis. It is an outrage that 20 years after 37 men, women and children were massacred that not only the individuals responsible have yet to face justice but that the remains of the victims have not been recovered because of the intransigence and complicity of the Cuban government. Decades have passed but the names of the victims are not forgotten the list of names circulated on the date of the massacre and their faces remembered. The same is now happening with the names and faces of the 43 Mexican students.

 It is a shocking outrage that a crime on a roughly equivalent scale in terms of the number of dead has been committed in Mexico. At least in Mexico, it appears that the lowest levels of this criminal act have been arrested. Let us hope that all those responsible for this atrocity be held accountable and the students (in whatever condition they are found) be returned to their loved ones. At the same time let us send a message to Nestle and boycott their candy bars in a sign of protest for their disrespect of the victims of this massacre.

The names of the 43 disappeared normalista students of Ayotzinapa who the government of Mexico now assumes have been murdered are listed below and cry out for justice:

Abel García Hernández
Abelardo Vázquez Periten
Adán Abrajan de la Cruz
Alexander Mora Venancio
Antonio Santana Maestro
Benjamín Ascencio Bautista
Carlos Iván Ramírez Villarreal
Carlos Lorenzo Hernández Muñoz
César Manuel González Hernández
Christian Alfonso Rodríguez Telumbre
Christian Tomás Colón Garnica
Cutberto Ortiz Ramos
Dorian González Parral
Emiliano Alen Gaspar de la Cruz
Everardo Rodríguez Bello
Felipe Arnulfo Rosas
Giovanni Galindes Guerrero
Israel Caballero Sánchez
Israel Jacinto Lugardo
Jesús Jovany Rodríguez Tlatempa
Jonás Trujillo González
Jorge Álvarez Nava
Jorge Aníbal Cruz Mendoza
Jorge Antonio Tizapa Legideño
Jorge Luis González Parral
José Ángel Campos Cantor
José Ángel Navarrete González
José Eduardo Bartolo Tlatempa
José Luis Luna Torres
Joshvani Guerrero de la Cruz
Julio César López Patolzin
Julio César Ramírez Nava
Leonel Castro Abarca
Luis Ángel Abarca Carrillo
Luis Ángel Francisco Arzola
Magdaleno Rubén Lauro Villegas
Marcial Pablo Baranda
Marco Antonio Gómez Molina
Martín Getsemany Sánchez García
Mauricio Ortega Valerio
Miguel Ángel Hernández Martínez
Miguel Ángel Mendoza Zacarías
Saúl Bruno García

Remembering and honoring Oswaldo and Harold

"Only the murder of 73 innocent people, many of them teenagers, Cuban athletes traveling in a Cubana airliner, exploded in midair the 6th of October of 1976 by a terrorist bomb, was full of so much sickening hatred, of so much perversion and of so much cynicism afterwards by their material and intellectual authors, as was the crime of July 13, 1994." - Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, "A crime done behind the back of the Christ of Havana"July 13, 2009
  



 Oswaldo was the consistent human rights defender who advocated for Cuban freedom using nonviolent means and an awful lot of courage his whole life. Two years later and his physical absence is still felt.

July like February has become a month to remember and mourn for the dead while demanding justice. Sunday, July 13 marked 20 years since the "13 de Marzo" tugboat massacre in which 37 men, women and children were murdered for trying to flee Cuba aboard the stolen vessel. However, the excuse that the crews on the other ships "acting patriotically" may have overdone it falls short when once considers that Cuban swimmers trying to flee to the Guantanamo naval base and freedom in June of 1993 were subjected to automatic machine gun fire, hand grenades, their bodies being recovered with gaff hooks. Trying to leave Cuba without the permission of the dictatorship is a crime punishable by prison if one is lucky and death if one is unlucky.

However, staying in Cuba and living the life of a free person is also dangerous proposition if one is lucky it means prison and if one is unlucky then it means death. Cuban opposition leader Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and youth leader Harold Cepero Escalante were killed on July 22, 2012 in what appears to have been a state security operation. Seven days from today friends and family will be marking two years since their untimely deaths by giving thanks for their lives of service and sacrifice. World leaders continue to demand an international investigation into their deaths and a survivor in the incident has gone on record to denounce that what happened was an attack orchestrated by state security.  Ofelia Acevedo, Oswalo's widow, addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council and denounced the role played by Cuban state security on September 17, 2013. The Castro regime's cover up is crumbling.


One week from today on Tuesday, July 22nd the lives of  Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante, will be remembered with a Mass of Thanksgiving at Our Lady of Charity (Ermita de la Caridad) in the city of Miami.  In addition the report "Two years without Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas" and the audiovisual "Harold Cepero" will also be shown

Time: 6:45 pm.
Date: July 22, 2014
Location: Ermita de la Caridad 3609 South Miami Ave Miami, FL. 33133

Source: Christian Liberation Movement

"13 de Marzo" tugboat coverage and what gets in the news

"State crimes are never an issue exclusive to the families of the victims." - Rosa Maria Payá Acevedo, protesting in front of the Cuban Interests Section on 7/10//14

Free Cuba Foundation holds 10 minute vigil on July 13, 2004

Today in the El Nuevo Herald an image appeared from ten years ago of a silent vigil held for 10 minutes at Florida International University in memory of the thirty seven "13 de Marzo" tugboat victims murdered on July 13, 1994. The vigil was organized by the Free Cuba Foundation, an independent student movement not affiliated with anyone. Ten years later it is hard to believe that people still have to gather holding a 20 minute silent vigil because 20 years later justice has still not been achieved for these 37 victims and their families. Its also a bit of a mystery that this old photo from ten years ago gets published but that two twenty minute silent vigils one at the UN Cuban Mission in New York City and a second at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington DC photos did not appear in the newspaper especially when someone of the stature of Rosa Maria Payá Acevedo was present in the demonstration but only rated a passing mention. Hopefully, this will be remedied in Sunday's coverage of yet another observance of this crime against innocent Cubans and the numerous activities being held.

Rosa Maria Payá with activists on July 10 in Washington DC

20 years after the July 13, 1994 "13 de Marzo" Tugboat Massacre: Calls to Action

This page will be updated with new events to pay homage to the victims of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat that was attacked and sunk by agents of the Cuban State on July 13, 1994 causing the deaths of 37 men, women, and children. Twenty years later and those responsible have not been held accountable or the victims compensated in any way. Twenty years without justice. Twenty years of impunity.

Below the events are listed in the chronological order that they were made known to this blog:

 "Lights of Liberty Flotilla in Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Massacre of the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat Sinking

In the Florida Straits and in Miami the Democracy Movement is organizing a flotilla on Saturday, July 12, 2014 called the "Lights of Liberty Flotilla in Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Massacre of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat sinking that will leave Key West from the Key West City Bight Marina and go in front of Cuba on Saturday, July 12, 2014 to hold a ceremony in memory of the victims of the massacre and others murdered by Castroism and to launch powerful lights of freedom, which will be seen from Havana and other points of Cuba. Inside Cuba, members of the opposition and the Democracy Movement led in the island by  Jose Diaz Silva and the people in general will draw near to the Malecon and other points on the coast with candles and flowerr to throw them into the sea and to see the "Lights of Freedom" launched by the flotilla.

For more information visit their facebook page or call 305-264-7200.


Twenty minutes of silence for 20 years without justice: Silent Vigil on July 13 at 3:00pm

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The Free Cuba Foundation has made a global call  for people of good will to hold a twenty minute moment of silence asking: "Please share and encourage friends wherever they are on July 13, 2014 at 3pm to join in a 20 minute moment of silence. Gather in a group or individually and take a photo at the end of the vigil holding up the above image calling for justice or whatever you have at hand. "  On Sunday at 3:00pm members of the Free Cuba Foundation will be gathering at the main fountain at Florida International University (rain or shine) for a twenty minute silent vigil.

For more information on activities in your area visit their facebook page or e-mail them

Mothers and Women Against Repression (MAR) will Remember Victims of the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat Massacre

On Sunday July 13, 2014- the twentieth anniversary of this crime against humanity. - MAR for Cuba will hold a rosary for the victims of the"13 de Marzo" tugboat massacre, on the grounds of the Cuban Memorial Monument, that is located on Coral Way & SW 112 Avenue, at 10 AM, after which a wreath of flowers will be deposited in their memory.

For more information contact  Sylvia G. Iriondo at 305-934-7302 or visit their website.



Collective Action "A light for mine" in tribute to victims of the "13 de Marzo"tugboat and all Cubans who've lost their lives at sea at dusk on July 12, 2014

Estado de Sats and For Another Cuba have called for an international campaign. The collective action “A light for mine” will be a tribute to the victims of the tugboat “13 de Marzo” and all Cubans who have lost their lives at sea, trying to escape a suffocating reality during 54 years.  It is also a tribute to the Cuban family and a call to hope and spiritual rebuilding of our nation.

 
This July 12 on the eve of the anniversary, at  dusk Cubans, anywhere in the world, will light a candle in front of the ocean , a bridge, a lake, a river, on your door, balcony or in the privacy of your home (in this case for the repression that doubles in Cuba on this date) For Cuba's disconnect with the world, Cubans living abroad can help promote this symbolic action inviting relatives and friends on the island to participate and share in turn photos and pictures of the same in the social networks.

Let's light a candle this July 12 to remember the friend, the family member who didn’t make it, the son who never appeared.

La acción colectiva ‘’Una luz por los míos ’’ será un homenaje a las víctimas del remolcador 13 de Marzo y a todos los cubanos que han perdido su vida en el mar, tratando de escapar de una realidad asfixiante durante 54 años. Es también tributo a la familia cubana y un llamado a la esperanza y a la reconstrucción espiritual de nuestra nación.
Este 12 Julio vísperas del aniversario, al anochecer, los cubanos, en cualquier lugar del mundo, prenderán una vela frente al mar, un puente, un lago, un río, en su puerta, balcón o en la intimidad de su hogar ( en este caso por la represión que se redobla en Cuba para esta fecha )
Por la desconexión de Cuba con el mundo, los cubanos que viven fuera pueden ayudar a promover esta acción simbólica invitando a familiares y amigos dentro de la isla a participar y compartir a su vez fotos e imágenes de la misma en las redes sociales.
Encendamos este 12 de Julio una vela para recordar al amigo, al familiar que no llegó, al hijo que nunca apareció.
Una vela como denuncia.
Una vela contra la desmemoria.
Una vela por el futuro.
Una luz por los míos

- See more at: http://www.estadodesats.com/2014/06/una-luz-por-los-mios.html#sthash.JZOcqy3a.dpuf

For more information on the collective action visit their campaign page  or Por Otra Cuba

20th Anniversary of the abominable sinking of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat off the coast of Havana on July 13, 1994

Our Lady of Charity  (La Ermita) is holding a Special mass and vigil: 

We will join together in prayer for the victims and their families and for Liberty and Justice to soon reach Cuba.

Mass: Saturday July 12, 2014
Location: 3609 South Miami Ave Miami, Fl. 33133
Time: 8:00pm

After the Mass united with our brothers in the Island and in different parts of the world we will have a candlelight vigil in their memory in the Sea wall of Our Lady of Charity. 

Don't miss it!

For more information on the Mass and vigil visit their facebook page or official website.

Human Rights Foundation and Cuban Democratic Directorate call for Twenty Minutes of Silence for Twenty Years of Impunity

The Cuban Democratic Directorate (CDD) and the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), have called for a symbolic nonviolent protest action in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the murder of 37 Cuban passengers of the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat, who on July 13, 1994 were killed by agents of the Cuban government for trying to escape the island. The demonstration will take place on July 10 at 12:00 noon outside the headquarters of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cuba to the United Nations (UN), located at No. 315 Lexington Avenue in New York City. Human rights activists, members of international civil society and Cuban exiles will gather in front of the embassy in order to hold twenty minutes of silence for each of the twenty years that this crime has remained unpunished.

For more information on the silent vigil visit the official announcement in English or Spanish and for additional questions contact: Jamie Hancock, jamie@thehrf.org, 212-246-8486 or
Janisset Rivero, jrrivero1969@gmail.com, 305-220-2713

  
CUBA: Young Leaders Group, Center for a Free Cuba and the Cuban Democratic Directorate Call for Twenty Minutes of Silence for Twenty Years of Impunity

Human rights and civil society organizations have called for a symbolic nonviolent protest action in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the murder of 37 Cuban passengers of the “13 de Marzo” Tugboat, who on July 13, 1994 were killed by agents of the Cuban government for trying to escape the island. The demonstration will take place on July 10 at 12:00 noon outside of the Cuban Interests Section located on 2630 16th Street NW in Washington DC. Human rights activists, members of international civil society and Cuban exiles will gather in front of the embassy in order to hold twenty minutes of silence for each of the twenty years that this crime has remained unpunished.

For more information contact:

Frank Calzon, Center for a Free Cuba 202- 427-3875

Jose Luis Garza, Cuban Democratic Directorate 305-220-2713

Rudy Mayor, U.S. Cuba Democracy PAC’s Young Leaders Group 786-393-9068