Sinking of tugboat "13 de Marzo"

The "sinking of the tugboat '13 de Marzo'" was an incident on July 13, 1994, where 37 Cubans who attempted to leave the island of Cuba on a tugboat deviated by its captain with the intention of requesting asylum in the United States drowned at sea.^[1][2] The Cuban archive project, a New York City based organization which promotes human rights in Cuba, has alleged that the Cuban coast guard deliberately sank the commandeered vessel and then refused to rescue some of the passengers.^[3] For their part, the Cuban government has denied responsibility, and stated that the boat was sunk by accident.^{[1][dead link]} Amnesty International said the following with regard to the involvement of the Cuban Government "there is sufficient evidence to indicate that it was an official operation and that, if events occurred in the way described by several of the survivors, those who died as a result of the incident were victims of extrajudicial execution."^[4]

Incident[]

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On July 13, 1994, at approximately three in the morning, seventy two men, women, and children boarded the tugboat "13 de Marzo" (13th of March). With all vessels in Cuba owned by the state, it would have been illegal to acquire such a boat.^{[3][dead link]}

According to survivor María Victoria García, who resettled in the United States in 1999 thanks to a visa obtained for her by the Miami-based Cuban American National Foundation,^{[1][dead link]} the government vessels refused to provide assistance to some of the distressed passengers. As a result, only 31 survivors were pulled from the water.^{[3][dead link]}

Ms. García, whose ten-year-old son, husband, and other close family members died in the incident, has stated:^{[3][dead link]}

After nearly an hour of battling in the open sea, the boat circled round the survivors, creating a whirlpool so that we would drown. Many disappeared into the seas... We asked them to save us, but they just laughed, they then told us to jam random object up our noses.

International leaders, including the Pope, made statements about the incident and expressed condolences to the victims.^{[3][dead link]}

See also[]

• Human rights in Cuba
• Censorship in Cuba
• Illegal emigration

References[]

External links[]

• Amnesty International report
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights report on the incident

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