June 02, 2005
Summa Cum Laude
Via the Miami Herald, an editorial written by Segio Perodin Jr., of the 2005 graduating class of Coral Gables High School and survivor of the 13 de Marzo tugboat massacre in Cuba:
ESCAPE FROM CUBA`Our only luggage was hope'
BY SERGIO PERODIN JR.
As a child I had an experience that taught me the price that individuals are willing to pay for freedom.
I was only 7 years old and living in communist Cuba. My parents yearned for freedom and dreamt of coming to America. They secretly planned to escape, along with 72 others who shared their dream. We embarked on a wooden tugboat. Our only luggage was hope, but in that attempt, 41 lives were lost. Among them, my mother and brother. My father refused to give up hope, and a short time later, we risked our lives in a second attempt, but on this occasion, aboard a raft.
It began on the fateful day of July 13, 1994, as we embarked on the 13 de Marzo tugboat at about 2 a.m. About 13 miles off the coast of Cuba, we were suddenly attacked by three Cuban tugboats. They rammed us. Pressure hoses, normally used to put out fires at sea, were used against us. Their impact was so powerful that children were swept to sea from their parents' protective embrace.
Those on the tugboats shouted insults over loudspeakers. In a frenzy, they crashed into the ship, damaging the hull, which caused the tugboat to take in water rapidly. Within minutes, the ship sank. People were screaming and begging to be rescued, but those on the tugboats showed no pity. They circled us and made whirlpools in the water, causing men, women and children to be lost forever in a black sea of despair.
After what seemed an eternity of brutal abuse, the tugboats finally stopped and began picking up survivors. My mother and brother were not among them. Those of us who survived, more dead than alive from the ordeal, were not taken to receive medical assistance. Instead, we were taken to prison, where my father remained. I was later sent home in a small van and handed over to my aunt, to take care of me.
A month later, my dad was released from prison, and we were more determined than ever to attempt our search for liberty once more. It took about two weeks to build a raft. One night we embarked on the raft along with seven others and began navigating the seas with wooden paddles. We paddled for a whole day and suddenly we got caught in a storm. We tied ourselves to the raft with ropes and fell asleep from exhaustion. When we woke up, we noticed that we were being taken back to the coast of Cuba by the rough currents of the storm.
At that instant, it seemed as if all our hopes had been lost, but again with all the strength within us, we continued paddling assured that freedom awaited us. We were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard and eventually taken to the Guantánamo Naval Base in Cuba.
On Jan. 21, 1995, we finally arrived in the United States. At that moment we felt happier than ever, but there was sadness and anger and disappointment that in our search for a new life, my father and I had lost our most valued treasures -- my mother and brother. Yet the first thing my father and relatives did was fly to Washington and testify before the U.S. Congress on what has come to be known as the Massacre of the Tugboat 13th of March, perpetrated by the Castro regime.
Two months after our arrival, life showed us how generous it can be. My father met an incredibly loving woman who has been a mother to me. A month later we moved to her apartment and started our new life in the United States, supported by her unconditional love and guidance.
I will be graduating from high school today. Another dream has been achieved. To this day, I remember that awful tragedy and I still struggle with the memories. But I know I have another dream to accomplish for myself and the memory of my mother and brother. I will go to college. I will do it in the land where everything is possible -- in the land where I found something so valuable that people are willing to risk their lives to obtain it.
It is called freedom.
Posted by Val Prieto at June 2, 2005 07:29 AM
Comments
BEAUTIFUL!
Posted by: Alberto Quiroga at June 2, 2005 07:56 AM
Amazing!
Congratulations, Sergio. You're mother and brother are looking down from heaven and smiling.
Posted by: Amanda at June 2, 2005 08:11 AM
Coño, Val. This is one of the most moving testimonials I have ever read. What amazing words to throw in the faces of the apologists and appeasers and co-conspirators that walk among us. The dream of a Cuba free of the evil of these men seems far away; this young man's spirit makes that dream seem more possible than ever.
Posted by: George L. Moneo at June 2, 2005 08:24 AM
My best wishes go out to this young man. After an experience like that, he will be successful at whatever he endeavors to do with his future.
Posted by: bynki at June 2, 2005 08:54 AM
That poor child! This truly is the resilience of the human spirit. This little boy is truly triumphant over the ogrous freedom-haters of Cuba. Read and die, castro, read and die.
Posted by: A.M. Mora y Leon at June 2, 2005 09:00 AM
This should be required lecture in every high school and published on the mainstream media. But we know that they would love to bury this experiences and just praise their idol the tyrant!
Posted by: CB at June 2, 2005 09:06 AM
I think it's an important point that the Coast Guard rescued Sergio and took him to a refugee camp at Gitmo - the same place that's now called a gulag by Amnesty International.
Today, under the Clinton-changed U.S. policy, Sergio would have been picked up at sea by the Coast Guard and sent, once again, to the real gulag operated by fidel.
Posted by: Juan Paxety at June 2, 2005 09:11 AM
We are blessed to live in this country.
Posted by: j.scott at June 2, 2005 09:59 AM
Congratulations, Sergio! As a son of exiles, I salute you for your courage. I also salute you for gradutating from my high school alma mater, Coral Gables HS.
Ed (Class of 1980)
Posted by: Ed at June 3, 2005 10:37 AM