Cubans taste freedom upon reaching shore - After dramatic journey, 3 migrants arrive in Key Largo***The Coast Guard threw the men life jackets. The men tossed back the jackets, but later accepted them. Hintzen said the fourth man gave himself up after growing too tired to keep swimming. While his companions bobbed in the water for more than hour -- two of them sharing one pair of swim fins and all three refusing assistance from Coast Guard officers --
the fourth migrant sat with his hands bound behind him. He was identified by Miami relatives as Jorge Parrado Martinez, who recently finished serving a 12-year prison sentence in Cuba after a failed attempt to flee. Parrado, who is in his 40s, was still aboard a Coast Guard vessel late Tuesday, said Ana Santiago, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ***
Only 2 solutions to the Cuban problem ***There are only two solutions to the Cuban problem. One is the application of a real embargo, prohibiting any money to be sent there from this or any country. Same with travel. An embargo by the whole world. The kind of embargo placed on South Africa during apartheid. Yes, it is hard, but it would work. I have relatives in Cuba, and I have never sent a penny there.
The other solution is an American intervention and temporary occupation, for perhaps six years. In the '90s, there was an embargo against Haiti. When that failed, the Clinton administration sent an aircraft carrier. We restored a "leader" (or another dictator, depending on whom you ask). There was a catch, though -- the Congressional Black Caucus was in favor of that great military action.
People who know me well know that, for 40 years, I've been present for the Cuban cause and will always be. To reach these conclusions has not been easy, but I challenge anybody to give me another solution, logical and feasible. I'm all ears. Just make sure you speak loud enough for the Cuban opposition to hear you -- behind all that concrete.***