The Cuban exile community around the USA (and the world) and also the Cubans in Cuba await for his signature nullificating that travesty of the very same nature of this country. Thanks George for that moving letter!!!

well said!

Doesn't it seem eerily like what the Cuban coast guard did? I think it was the 13 de marzo?
I am sure that all it will take is for a politician to once a gain say "Cuba will someday be free" and we will put our tails between our legs and forget it ever happened.

Beautiful, beautiful post, George! It's your very best! Gracias!

George, I can imagine how gut wrenching writing this was, I’m hoping that every Cuban American and their supporters are writing a similar one and sending it to the White House. In fact, all Americans should be demanding an end to the wet foot, dry foot, but we know how that goes. Speaking of this vile policy and the hardships endured, how is your translation going? I didn’t somehow miss a chapter did I?

pototo, No more tails between legs and no more forgetting. No más

Kathleen,
I hope so.
No Mas needs to apply to the exile community as well!

asi se habla george ..

I’m proud to read that letter.
We still have Cubans with lots of cojones.
Lets follow he’s example my people.
Let’s show the bush administration that we mean business

...Cuando un pueblo emigra los gobernantes sobran
Jose Marti

Kathleen, I put Point the Bow Towards Hope on hiatus after the very negative thread that went on in the last post. I was more than a little pissed off with the BS from one of the commenters that the story was was "anti-American." In light of the events of last week, I think this person's rantings are moot. As you read in my letter, I am openly critical of this policy and I feel strongly that it is immoral and unconscionable.

I will post "Part 6: Settling In" later in the week. Thanks for the interest.

Actually, one could copy and paste the last four paragraphs of this letter and send it to his/her reps and senators, amending the last sentence so that it refers to all of us who think this policy is terrible - not just the Cuban community.

There is a better hope of changing this if more people outside the Cuban community are vocal about it.

Scott, I agree. It is not a "Cuban" issue; it is a human rights issue. Everyone who loves freedom should protest loudly at what has been going on since the Clinton policy went into effect.

"Doesn't it seem eerily like what the Cuban coast guard did? I think it was the 13 de marzo?"

Yes, just like it, except that no-one was killed.

I know, a minor technicality. But hey, who's counting?

Comparing the cuban coast guard with the US Coast Guard turns my stomach... It will turn Bush's stomach too I assure you.

Cheo, once again you miss the point of the discussion. The actions we witnessed speak louder than all the words we have heard.

Let's play pretend for a moment. What if the ramming, caught on video, had resulted in the death of one or more of these people. What would you say then? The Coast Guard was "just doing its job"? Please. The policy is despicable and has to be stopped.

(And I will put my American bona fides up against yours any day, so don't come back with any of your BS "anti-American" crap. That is just an intellectually lazy canard thrown around to confuse or confound issue at hand. Stick to the issue and don't muddy the waters.)

CheoMedalla, this disgusting incident should turn everyone’s stomach irrespective of national identity.

George,

Excellent letter.

I was also going to ask you about the "Point the Bow Towards Hope" series. I'm glad you are going to continue the series, and that you didn't let some jerk(s) try to hijack your efforts to bring us that fantastic story.

Ojala, Let's be hopeful he CAN help us out. I'm begining to doubt George Dubya on his and his Administration's actions in the past year towards our c. COME ON let's not beat around the BUSH get it over with.

Moneo: I get your point exactly. I think there is a good chance the policy WILL be overturned very soon.

Once this happens, the CG will no longer need to interdict at sea and will be able to allow the illegals to come ashore. Then the police will catch them on land trying to squirel away just like the Mexicans at the Texas border. Some will even make it, blending into the general population where they will work doing menial jobs like all other undocumented aliens in Miami.

Or, they will stop taking such huge risks with their entire families and find alternative ways to vent their anti-castro energies. If they are anti-castro, that is.

And like I said elsewhere. I do hope the USCG does find a more humane and photogenic way of doing their jobs. A net on the propeller could do the trick. After all, the idea was to prevent them from reaching shore and nothing more.

Cheo, this is my only answer to you: Last time I checked, in Cuba there is a very strong communist dictatorship in power. You seem to have a problem identifying your enemy: It's kagasstro, not the regular Cuban who tries to come here. If you don't understand this, well, I have better things to do like wasting my time with a (fill in the blank with whatever you want) like you. If what you fill in the blank with is insulting, it's probably because you deserve it. If you take offense, tough. Fill in the blank again. And again.

well cheo I never seen in my life a indocumentado cubano???. there no such thing .
if you are cuban estas detras del palo mi hermano.

Well tocorro, you have never seen one, true. Neither have I. Today, they don't exist thanks to past and present policies. If they are here they are legal. But if CB gets his way ... you will see them.

CB: I know EXACTLY who the enemy is and I want him removed from power at ANY cost. You want to go after the USCG, I want castro dead. You want to blame Eisenhower, kennedy, lbj, Nixon, Ford, carter, Reagan, Bush Sr./clinton/Bush, I want castro and his regime to end in my lifetime. The only people that can do this are INSIDE the island. How can we encourage them from here? THAT is what we should be discussing.

You want a return to the pre-clinton immigration policy. I get it. But it will not happen. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Face it and plan accordingly.

What would you do if the option was between the current policy and the equalization of our immigration policy towards cubans? That's the question you should be asking yourself.

George,
Congratulations. I don't know if you are aware of the mail process at the White House. The President receives more than 10,000 letters daily, regarding all sorts of issues. They are then sorted out to specialists. I am sure that your letter will go to an immigration or Cuba specialist, who will send you a curt standard reply. It will probably have the President's signature on it, as it is imbedded in computer software used to answer letters. Senators and Congressmen use the same letter-answering techniques. Ten years ago, I visited the office of a Congresswoman in Washington, where a friend of mine worked, and I saw the computer screen of a staffer answering a letter with the Congresswoman's signature, with different blue ink than the black ink on the text. I mockingly replied, "Hey, that's cheating!" My friend said, "You are not supposed to be looking around the office. Besides, she does read all her letters before they go out." I replied, "Yeah, right, and so does Santa Claus."
As someone suggested, you need to send copies of your letter to Ileana Ros, the Diaz-Balart brothers, and Senator Martinez, with a plea that it gets hand delivered to the president. Otherwise, he will never hear of it. There are Cuban community leaders who make an annual trek to the White House every May 20th, to change pleasantries with the President and do a photo op. They could also be persuaded to hand deliver your letter or a petition on this issue.
Good luck, you can count on me.

People like Cheo and the others that try to divert from the real issues by injecting insults, confusion and division are no different than agents of the enemy within! They are worthless, no bodies with verbal diahrrea due to the cerebral enemas they get everyday from the MSM and all the "pinko" propaganda!!
I say stick to what is right and keep going, ignore the ignorant and their arrogance. Don't feed their purpose which is exactly what we DON'T NEED OR WANT! eventually, they will get tired and go blog somewhere else....We need to stay on track.
I would recommend they start visiting Pastors for Piss blogs, or those Che Guevara T-shirt anti American web sites going around.

Just sent a letter to the White House...DONE!! IF we all did the same we can make them listen!!
En la union esta la fuerza!!
Adelante hermanos!!
YA NO MAS!!

George,

Well said as usual. I believe you are barking up the wrong tree though. George Bush is now a lame duck and acting like one, on this issue as well as others.

I suggest contacting Bill Frist, George Allen, Rudy Giuliani, etc... the people who will come after Bush, they are the ones the Cuban community can get something done with because they need your votes.

Unfortunately it seems as if George Bush has steered away from his conservative base and doesn't need to court your votes.

I totally agree this isn't just a Cuban issue and the US Coast Guard has to have more important issues than guarding our shores from freedom-loving people. If only the administration put as much zeal behind guarding our border with Mexico.

Or even better use those hoses on Cindy Sheehan.

Hey Alvin, long time no hear! Maybe you're right about the lame duck status. Still, we're pretty sick of the lip service we get without action to back it up. Last Thursday was just the latest in a long line of disillusionments the Cuban exile community has had to live with.

I can only imagine how it must feel for a Cuban here to see this. I know when I hear of this kind of injustice it makes me ashamed of being an American.

This country though is great and I believe has devine providence. It's people are great (most of them) and injustice does not last long if illuminated.

It sickened me to hear the speaches this weekend vilifying President Bush and praising Castro, Kim Jong Il, etc... But there is a very vocal evil minority in this country who are basically communisim's last hope in this world.

I am in the process of moving and will be starting my blog up after everything is setup. I'll give you a shout when it's up.

The seems to be an Anti-Coast Guard vibe going on here. The Coast Guard is not at fault. Any vessel in our waters must be open to Coast Guard inspection. That is not only National policy but along with partnerships of many other countries it is authorised outside the 12 mile zone as long asstrict procedures are followed. If the inspection is resisted and any threat is physically made to the Coast Guard vessel or personell will employing its boarding techniques they can be matched in kind. Think of a Coast Guard vessel as a cop car trying to pull over a law breaker that is not stopping. Sometimes those vehicles and persons breaking the law may get hurt in the process, sometimes there is vehicle contact. Youcan imagine the difficulties I am sure. Just remember that those enforcing the laws are not the bad guys the lawbreakers are. It is agianst the law to improperly enter America. If you have a problem with the public policy take it out on those who write it not those that enforce it.