20 years later still no justice for 37 "13 de Marzo" tugboat victims: A Call to Remember and Take Action

“But men often mistake killing and revenge for justice. They seldom have the stomach for justice.” - Robert Jordan

The attack on and sinking of the"13 de Marzo" tugboat in the early morning hours of July 13, 1994 is probably one of the worse crimes committed by the Cuban government under the rule of the Castro brothers and it is definitely the best documented and widely recognized by international human rights bodies and is referenced in books on international law. 

However, after twenty years it has been largely forgotten (outside of the Cuban diaspora). The last time a national audience in the United States heard anything about this incident was during Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba in 1998 when Ted Koppel's Nightline did a story and interviewed survivors and family members. Koppel in his program explained how the mainstream media reacted to the massacre:

"Three and a half years ago, in the summer of 1994, something terrible happened out there, seven or eight miles out at sea, off the northern coast of Cuba. it was an incident that went all but unnoticed in the US media. The Cuban-American community protested but they protest a lot and as I say, we in the mainstream media all but ignored it. The Vatican, however, did not.

Today this crime is absent from the public conversation on Cuba. It is important that it not be forgotten by the general public, remaining a painful memory among Cubans,  and that the demands of justice for the victims and their families not be ignored.  

What happened

Three Cuban families seeking a better life away from the dictatorship sought passage aboard the Cuban tugboat the “13 de Marzo.” The captain of the tug was part of the group wanting to leave. The tugboat left Havana on Wednesday, July 13, 1994 according to reported accounts at around 3:00am. No sooner had they left the port they were being pursued by two other tugboats, also of the Maritime Services Enterprise of the Ministry of Transportation.
Seven miles from the Cuban coast line at a location known as "La Poceta" the “13 de Marzo”tugboat was confronted by two other tugboats . Amnesty International in their 1997 investigation reported that the vessels which attacked the “13 de Marzo” were Polargo 2”, “Polargo 3″ and “Polargo 5″ and identified as belonging to the Ministry of Transport. In the IACHR  report the attack does not appear improvised:

  "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.

The Amnesty International report mentions another vessel that "appeared to be directing operations was believed to belong to the Cuban Coast Guard, which is part of the Ministry of the Interior.”

Despite the “13 de Marzo” tugboat stopping and passengers attempting to surrender while mothers held up their children begging for mercy the other tugboats continued to ram the tug and use high pressure hoses to blast them overboard. Following this the attackers began to circle the wreckage with the aim of creating a whirlpool effect to ensure that all would drown. Sergio Perodin, one of the survivors who lost his wife and young son during the incident, explained how the massacre stopped in the Nightline program:

"We saw in the distance a boat with a Greek flag that appeared to be what stopped them. lt looked like the boat was watching what they were doing, the murder they were committing. So they stopped and decided to pick us up."

It was then and only then that the attack was suspended and the survivors picked up by the Cuban Coast Guard.

On August 5, 1994 Fidel Castro made a speech to the official news media justifying the incident and praising the men on the ships that attacked and sank the "13 de Marzo"tugboat:

"The workers' behavior was exemplary, there's no denying it, because they tried to stop them from stealing the boat.  What are we to say to them now, let them steal the boats, their livelihood?  The actions of the Coast Guard crews were irreproachable, they saved 25 lives.  So, this is what happened and as soon as information became available, more details were given. 

Within three years of the crime beginning first with the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 1995, followed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 1996 and Amnesty International in 1997 all released reports on what had occurred with the information then available. The most in-depth of the reports was the one prepared by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

Human Rights Watch in their 1999 report "Cuba's Repressive Machinery: Human Rights Forty Years After the Revolution" in their chapter on impunity explained the importance of the IACHR report:

 On October 16, 1996, the commission approved a public report concluding that on July 13, 1994, Cuba violated the right to life of forty-one people who died when Cuban government boats rammed, flooded, and sank the 13 de Marzo, a hijacked tugboat loaded with civilians fleeing Cuba. The report also found that Cuba violated the right of personal integrity of the thirty-one survivors of the sinking, and violated the rights to transit and justice of all of the seventy-two persons who attempted to leave Cuba. The report provides shocking survivors' testimony of the Cuban government's deliberate attempts to sink the boat. Statements by President Castro and the Interior Ministry regarding responsibility for the incident provide a disturbing counterpoint to the victims' experiences. Clearly, the government's effort was to exculpate itself from responsibility, rather than conduct a serious investigation and punish those responsible for this incident.

 New information emerges

In 2009  Jorge García who lost 14 family members on July 13, 1994 sat down and spoke on camera about what he had learned about the actions of the Cuban government  both before and after the massacre. He also named names of those who participated in the attack and sinking of the “13 de Marzo” tugboat.
The one who, according to him, was the most aggressive, the bloodiest and oversaw the operation was Jesús González Machín, captain of the “Polargo 5″ that sunk the “13 de Marzo” tugboat. He actually had the opportunity to meet him and photograph him. Although Machín denied having sunk the “13 de Marzo,” he said something of tremendous importance: “I didn’t work that day. They called me at 6 p.m. that there was an operation at the port.”
 On 6:00 p.m. on July 12, 1994, at the Port of Havana, Cuban state security knew that the “13 de Marzo” tugboat was going to be taken and had nine hours to prepare their response.  What took place on July 13, 1994 was planned for ahead of time.
Following the massacre, family members imagined that the bodies would be returned to them. The government organized rapid response brigades and blocked anyone from visiting the home. The Cuban government had persons with weapons to intimidate survivors and the families of the victims. Jorge García was detained and interrogated on several occasions. His longest detention was for 15 days. His daughter, María Victoria García, was one of three of his family who survived the massacre and spoke out:

"They tried on several occasions to kill my daughter, because she was the first to speak out and contradict the regime’s official narrative.

Jorge and his daughter are now exiled in Miami. Jorge maintains an archive of information and has interviewed the survivors of the massacre and the families of the victims. He has also confirmed that the number killed that day was 37. The initial investigation had placed the number at 41 with four unknown but has now been confirmed to be the 37 listed below.
Twenty years later and the thirty seven victims of a massacre are still without justice. Their families not only denied justice but have yet to have their dear departed returned to them for a proper burial. People of good will inside and outside of Cuba are organizing actions such as flotillas, candlelight vigils, 20 minutes of silence for 20 years of injustice, and Masses prior to and on July 13 to remember and continue the call for justice.  The question I wish to ask you who are reading this: What are you willing to do?

The persons killed on July 13, 1994 in the "13 de Marzo" incident are: 

Leonardo Notario Góngora, 
Marta Tacoronte Vega, 
Caridad Leyva Tacoronte, 
Yausel Eugenio Pérez Tacoronte, 
Mayulis Méndez Tacoronte, 
Odalys Muñoz García, 
Pilar Almanza Romero, 
Yaser Perodín Almanza, 
Manuel Sánchez Callol, 
Juliana Enriquez Carrasana, 
Helen Martínez Enríquez, 
Reynaldo Marrero, 
Joel García Suárez, 
Juan Mario Gutiérrez García, 
Ernesto Alfonso Joureiro, 
Amado Gonzáles Raices, 
Lázaro Borges Priel, 
Liset Alvarez Guerra, 
Yisel Borges Alvarez , 
Guillermo Cruz Martínez, 
Fidelio Ramel Prieto-Hernández, 
Rosa María Alcalde Preig, 
Yaltamira Anaya Carrasco, 
José Carlos Nicole Anaya, 
María Carrasco Anaya, 
Julia Caridad Ruiz Blanco, 
Angel René Abreu Ruiz, 
Jorge Arquímides Lebrijio Flores, 
Eduardo Suárez Esquivel, 
Elicer Suárez Plascencia, 
Omar Rodríguez Suárez, 
Miralis Fernández Rodríguez, 
Cindy Rodríguez Fernández, 
José Gregorio Balmaceda Castillo, 
Rigoberto Feut Gonzáles, 
Midalis Sanabria Cabrera

Please say a prayer for them and their families that the truth in its fullness is known and that justice be provided.

Jorge Garcia lost 14 family members on July 13, 1994

Rejects revenge offers pity for the killers and continues to demand justice














''There are those who think that we should be full of rancor and a thirst for vengeance but I don't want revenge. I feel sorry for the people who assassinated my family. I can never be compensated for my loss. I will never be happy again with my family surrounding me. There will always be a tinge of sadness but I do want there to be a trial so that this situation can serve as a lesson and that these people or others like them in other parts of the world, don't do this kind of thing again. Not in Cuba. Not anywhere.''

Jorge García, July 13, 2004 (A decade after July 13, 1994 tugboat massacre)

I had the opportunity to sit down with Jorge García days prior to and on the 15th anniversary of the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat sinking and ask him in detail about the events surrounding the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat sinking and its aftermath. I met him in a modest efficiency in Little Havana. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a photograph of his son Joel Garcia with the name repeated on the t-shirt with the phrase: "We Will Never Forget." We sat down and he offered a detailed breakdown of what occurred which are available in Spanish in five parts (if anyone would like to help in translating it would be much appreciated).



On July 19, 1994, the Archbishop of Havana and President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba, Monsignor Jaime Ortega Alamino said that: “the sinking of the vessel, which was carrying women and children, and the difficulties of the rescue of the survivors do not appear to be in any way accidental. This adds to the sorrow a feeling of astonishment and a need for the facts to be clarified and responsibilities to be established.. What can lead a human being to set off on such risky ventures except a certain degree of desperation or despair? What can lead other human beings to use such unusual force against their brothers other than a violent mentality?”

Sixteen years later the questions he raised then are still relevant and still unanswered by the dictatorship but other institutions analyzed and documented what had taken place.

Amnesty International in their 1997 investigation reported that the vessels which attacked the “13 de Marzo” were identified as belonging to the Ministry of Transport and are called:

“Polargo 2", “Polargo 3" and “Polargo 5". According to survivors, “Polargo 5" was the vessel which acted most aggressively towards them. The fourth vessel which followed along behind them and which appeared to be directing operations was believed to belong to the Cuban Coast Guard, which is part of the Ministry of the Interior."

The previous blog entry offers a brief review of the different international organizations investigations and conclusions surrounding the events in Cuba on July 13, 1994. Nevertheless it is important to explain the role of the Cuban government and its state security apparatus.



I still can't imagine the horror and pain of losing fourteen relatives, among them children and grandchildren yet in the course of the conversation Jorge described the circumstances that led to the massacre itself but also the government's attempted cover up afterward. The reason that he lost so many family members were that three families had together planned their escape from the island therefore the massacre disproportionately impacted these families. Worse yet, Jorge offers an explanation of why there were survivors.

The other boats created a whirlpool effect to drown everyone. After sinking the tugboat the remaining 31 survivors were saved because of three factors. There were three factors that saved lives, the famous board, that turns out to have been the tugs cooler; a person who died of fear Rosa María Alcalde Preig appears to have died of a heart attack floating face down the others hung on to her; and a greek boat that appeared in the night. That led to the end of the plan of extermination, and the Cuban coastguard began to pick up the survivors. Thanks to that 31 people were saved. The total number of dead was 37 and 31 saved. A total of 68. Initially we thought there were 72 in total. Time has told us differently. I traveled through Havana visiting all the families taking photographs of the victims of which you see in the picture. The names and photos of 37 victims have been identified.

Jorge learned the names of those who took part in the massacre of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat. There were two of them that were the most aggressive and the bloodiest. --> Jesús González Machín, patron of the "Polargo 5" that sunk the "13 de Marzo" tugboat. He actually had the opportunity to meet him and photograph him. Although Machín denied having sunk the "13 de Marzo" he said something of tremendous legal importance: "I didn't work that day. They called me at 6pm that there was an operation at the port."



That is to say that from 6pm at the Port of Havana Cuban state security was there to direct the operations of the sinking of the "13 de Marzo." They knew what was going to happen. It was a double crime. They could have stopped or impeded the departure of the tugboat. They followed orders and sank the boat. For Jorge's family it cost 14 lives of the 17 who traveled.

Jorge Garcia speaks with FIU students following his presentation 7/13/2009

Following the massacre family members imagined that the bodies would be returned to them. What happened was the opposite. Jorge's home was filled with people. His son had been a disc jockey in Guanabacoa. The government responded by organizing Rapid Response Brigades and blocked anyone from visiting the home.



The dictatorship had persons with weapons to intimidate. I was detained and interrogated on several occasions. The longest detention was 15 days. They tried on several occasions to kill my daughter, because she was the first to speak out and contradict the regime's official narrative.

Jorge Garcia following his presentation at FIU on July 13, 2009

At the end of Jorge's presentation at Florida International University organized and hosted by the Free Cuba Foundation on July 13, 2009 a member of the audience asked him if there was someone other than him who could renounce justice and speak of reconciliation other than you? His response was that he was in disagreement with the question adding:

"I could've easily executed the man who killed my family. The only picture of that man I took the picture of. I knew where he lived. Despite that I didn't do it. The government itself directed me towards him. They wanted to turn me into a criminal. The regime sought to justify what it had first said. The regime had said that a group of antisocials had stolen the boat and that there were an undetermined number of victims. If you look at the photographs and the profiles there were no "anti-social elements." What were there were entire families. I told the man that he would have to face trial that it might not be me but my son. It might take generations but there would be justice."

The question and answer in full (in Spanish) is posted below, and is a powerful message about the difference between justice and revenge. It also indicates the nature of the Cuban regime to try to tempt a good man to do evil to cover up its own criminal actions.

July 13, 2009: A Family Member Speaks Out (in Spanish)

The "13 de Marzo" Tugboat Massacre 15 Years Later: A Family Member Speaks Out (in Spanish)

Jorge Garcia lost 14 family members on July 13, 1994 when they were extrajudicially executed by Cuban government agents who attacked the tugboat "13 de Marzo" after it had surrendered. In the video below Jorge Garcia described the events leading to the massacre. This is only the first part. There are two additional videos available online as well offering more details.

REPORT Nº 47/96


CASE 11.436

VICTIMS OF THE TUGBOAT "13 DE MARZO" vs. CUBA

October 16, 1996

I. BACKGROUND

On July 19, 1994, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights received a complaint stating that 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.

Read the full report here:

http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/96eng/Cuba11436.htm

In the above video Jorge Garcia outlines how Cuban state security attempted to neutralize him and his families moral authority to denounce their crimes. It is in Spanish and gripping testimony that relates to the power of nonviolence and love when confronted with hatred and violence.

En castellano:

INFORME Nº 47/96

CASO 11.436

VÍCTIMAS DEL BARCO REMOLCADOR "13 DE MARZO" vs. CUBA

16 de octubre de 1996

I. ANTECEDENTES

Con fecha 19 de julio de 1994, la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos recibió una denuncia según la cual en horas de la madrugada del 13 de julio de 1994, cuatro barcos pertenecientes al Estado cubano y equipados con mangueras de agua embistieron un viejo barco remolcador que huía de Cuba con 72 personas a bordo. Los hechos ocurrieron a siete millas de distancia de las costas cubanas, frente al puerto de la ciudad de La Habana. La mencionada denuncia señala, asimismo, que las embarcaciones del Estado cubano embistieron con sus respectivas proas al remolcador fugitivo con la intención de hundirlo, al mismo tiempo que les lanzaban agua a presión a todas las personas que se encontraban en la cubierta del mencionado barco, incluyendo mujeres y niños. La súplica de las mujeres y niños para que el ataque cesara fue en vano, ya que la vieja embarcación denominada "13 de Marzo" se hundió con un saldo de 41 muertos, de los cuales 10 eran menores de edad. 31 personas sobrevivieron a los sucesos del 13 de julio de 1994.

El reporte completo esta aqui:

http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/96span/Cuba11436.htm