Posted on Apr 19, 2016
Castro announces Mariel Boatlift - Apr 20, 1980 - HISTORY.com
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On April 20, 1980, the Castro regime announces that all Cubans wishing to emigrate to the U.S. are free to board boats at the port of Mariel west of Havana, launching the Mariel Boatlift. The first of 125,000 Cuban refugees from Mariel reached Florida the next day.
The boatlift was precipitated by housing and job shortagescaused bythe ailing Cuban economy, leading to simmering internal tensions on the island. On April 1, Hector Sanyustiz and four others drove a bus through a fence at the Peruvian embassy and were granted political asylum. Cuban guards on the street opened fire. One guard was killed in the crossfire.
The Cuban government demanded the five be returned for trial in the dead guard’s death. But when the Peruvian government refused, Castro withdrew his guards from the embassy on Good Friday, April 4. By Easter Sunday, April 6, some 10,000 Cubans crowded into the lushly landscaped gardens at the embassy requesting asylum. Other embassies, including those of Spain and Costa Rica, agreed to take a small number of people. But suddenly, two weeks later, Castro proclaimed that the port of Mariel would be opened to anyone wishing to leave, as long as they had someone to pick them up. Cuban exiles in the United Statesrushed to hire boats in Miami and Key West and rescue their relatives.
In all, 125,000 Cubans fled to U.S. shores in about 1,700 boats, creating large waves of people that overwhelmed the U.S. Coast guard. Cuban guards had packed boat after boat, without considering safety, making some of the overcrowded boats barely seaworthy. Twenty-sevenmigrants died, including 14 on an overloaded boat that capsized on May 17.
The boatlift also began to have negative political implications for U.S.President Jimmy Carter.When it was discovered that a number of the exiles had been released from Cuban jails and mental health facilities, many were placed in refugee camps while others were held in federal prisons to undergo deportation hearings. Of the 125,000 “Marielitos,” as the refugees came to be known, who landed in Florida, more than 1,700 were jailed and another 587 were detained until they could find sponsors.
The exodus was finally ended by mutual agreement between theU.S. andCubangovernments in October 1980.
The boatlift was precipitated by housing and job shortagescaused bythe ailing Cuban economy, leading to simmering internal tensions on the island. On April 1, Hector Sanyustiz and four others drove a bus through a fence at the Peruvian embassy and were granted political asylum. Cuban guards on the street opened fire. One guard was killed in the crossfire.
The Cuban government demanded the five be returned for trial in the dead guard’s death. But when the Peruvian government refused, Castro withdrew his guards from the embassy on Good Friday, April 4. By Easter Sunday, April 6, some 10,000 Cubans crowded into the lushly landscaped gardens at the embassy requesting asylum. Other embassies, including those of Spain and Costa Rica, agreed to take a small number of people. But suddenly, two weeks later, Castro proclaimed that the port of Mariel would be opened to anyone wishing to leave, as long as they had someone to pick them up. Cuban exiles in the United Statesrushed to hire boats in Miami and Key West and rescue their relatives.
In all, 125,000 Cubans fled to U.S. shores in about 1,700 boats, creating large waves of people that overwhelmed the U.S. Coast guard. Cuban guards had packed boat after boat, without considering safety, making some of the overcrowded boats barely seaworthy. Twenty-sevenmigrants died, including 14 on an overloaded boat that capsized on May 17.
The boatlift also began to have negative political implications for U.S.President Jimmy Carter.When it was discovered that a number of the exiles had been released from Cuban jails and mental health facilities, many were placed in refugee camps while others were held in federal prisons to undergo deportation hearings. Of the 125,000 “Marielitos,” as the refugees came to be known, who landed in Florida, more than 1,700 were jailed and another 587 were detained until they could find sponsors.
The exodus was finally ended by mutual agreement between theU.S. andCubangovernments in October 1980.
Castro announces Mariel Boatlift - Apr 20, 1980 - HISTORY.com
Posted from history.com
American History
Cuba
Cold War
Posted >1 y ago
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SP5 Mark Kuzinski wow thanks for the history, well received, I always think about the movie Scarface at the beginning. Great vivid illustration On April 20, 1980, the Castro regime announces that all Cubans wishing to emigrate to the U.S. are free to board boats at the port of Mariel west of Havana, launching the Mariel Boatlift. The first of 125,000 Cuban refugees from Mariel reached Florida the next day.
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Alan K.
SP5 Mark Kuzinski - I lived it....i was there. Interesting times my brother and I would call them ! Never left the house without a peacemaker and laid it right on the seat next to me ALWAYS
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The Mariel Boatlift allowed Fidel Castro to unload many thugs and criminal onto the United States in 1980 SP5 Mark Kuzinski. While a significant number were not prior criminals; at least 10% of those he released were. This group also embraced Castro and his communist policies. those that came before generally have nothing to do with the pro-communists of the Mariel Boatlift.
Disclaimer: My wife left Cuba at age 14 in 1967 with nothing but the clothes on her back. She an other family members were able to earn enough in this country to get many of the extended family members out in the 1970's/ Those people are all thankful they are here and proud to be citizens of the USA.
Disclaimer: My wife left Cuba at age 14 in 1967 with nothing but the clothes on her back. She an other family members were able to earn enough in this country to get many of the extended family members out in the 1970's/ Those people are all thankful they are here and proud to be citizens of the USA.
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Won't be long for the travel to be perfectly legal both ways. Heck, if our country gets more like Cuba, they will be repatriated to get to a more free nation as they will become as the capitalist move in.
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