February 22, 2006
Flagler's Bridge (Updated)
There is a street here in Miami that bisects the city from one end to the other. It was Miami's first Main street and is named, appropriately so, after Henry Flagler who is known as the real founder of the City of Miami. It was also Mr. Flagler who spent an unprecedented millions of dollars at the turn of the century to connect mainland South Florida to the group of islands known as the Keys with a railroad. Years of planning went into it, thousands of men toiled and many adversities were lived through to make Flagler's bridge dream come true.
In 1935, years after Henry Flagler's death and after millions of passengers had traveled between Miami and the lower keys via Flagler's railroad bridge system, major parts of the bridge were destroyed by a hurricane. After much consideration, Henry Flagler's railroad bridge was rebuilt by the government as a thoroughfare for vehicles. No train would ever make the 156 mile trip again.
Henry Flagler's seven mile bridge, a major part of original bridge system, reconstructed and used for decades as the primary and only land route between Florida's mainland and the Keys, now sits abandoned a mere 100 parallel yards or so from a newly built more modern thoroughfare.
It was Henry Flagler's Bridge that 15 Cuban refugees landed on after days at sea back in January. It was Henry's Flagler's bridge that the US Coast Guard deemed was not officially US land and consequently repatriated the refugees back to the island prison. Henry Flagler's Bridge. The same bridge built with American money and American muscle and American sweat and, even, with a cost of American lives. Henry Flagler's Bridge. By all accounts, a historical landmark. A triumph of the American entrepeneurial spirit, a testament to American know how, a product of the American work ethic.
Yet according to our government, it is not a part of America.
Last night, Hannity and Colmes highlighted the inhumane treatment of 15 souls fleeing tyranny and oppression. Family members of the 15 refugees were taken via boat to Henry Flagler's Bridge to the exact same spot where freedom became fleeting. Where the hope of 15 men and women and children was usurped over semantics.
My wife and I, our fiend Maribel and Julio Zangroniz sat in front of our living room tv last night completely transfixed. Awed almost, that a member of the MSM had finally done something to bring to light the inane absurdity of the wet-foot/dry-foot policy. Tears flowed as they most certainly will flow as you take in the following video reports from Hannity & Colmes via Fox News:
Watch the video of two Cuban family members here.
Watch the video of the attorney working to overturn the government;s ruling on the 15 here.
Watch an interview with Alina Fernandez, daughter of fidel castro here.
I truly hope this is the beginning of real coverage of one of the most un-American and inhumane policies to ever be implemented by a US government.
UPDATE: I have watched that first video a bunch of times today. When Guerrero speaks at the end and says that Cubans will keep trying to flee and then says "Some of us make it. Some of us never make. Some of us are never found." He actually pauses for a second and you can literally see the reality and the pain that he lives with daily just consume him. He then breaks down on camera, taking me along with him every time.
It is impossible to string words together to describe exactly what Guerrero is feeling at that precise moment in time. Those of you that have been separated from your families, those of you that have lost family fleeing the island, you know exactly what that feeling is.
Also: If you'd like to know more about the railroad that acccording to the US government is no longer part of the United States, I recommend "Last Train to Paradise - Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean" by Les Standiford - acclaimed author and my former creative writing profesor at Florida International University.
Posted by Val Prieto at February 22, 2006 07:47 AM
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Comments
Your post about the Flagler Bridge incident is truly eloquent and undeniably truthful. I moved here 7 years ago and hadn't much followed Cuban issues. Soon after moving here I saw on tv Cubans trying to reach shore. There were people on the beach cheering them on and the Coast Guard was close behind. It really moved me, to think that people would leave everything they have ever known, put themselves and their families in harms way and take such a huge chance to leave, all for the hope of the U.S. The wetfoot/dry foot policy is arbitrary. All who leave a dictatorship, an "evil regime" should be allowed in, it used to be called political asylum.
Posted by: jen at February 22, 2006 08:55 AM
Amen.
Posted by: George L. Moneo at February 22, 2006 10:14 AM
I agree. That Bridge is US soil, the deportation is illegal under US law.
Posted by: DG at February 22, 2006 10:53 AM
Thanks for this post! I'd forgotten about this case. That has to be the most ridiculous decision ever made in wet foot/dry foot policy. So I guess the pilings of the US1 bridge are considered American soil?
Unfortunately, because of a computer glitch, I can't see the videos. But I am curious, are we talking about the ruined bridge at Bahia Honda State Park? That bridge is attached to land!
Manola
Posted by: Manola B at February 22, 2006 12:40 PM
Manola,
Its not the Bahia Honda Bridge - which is, incidentally one of my favorite fishing spots and the only park with a real beach in the keys. The bridge in question is the old seven mile bridge.
Posted by: Val Prieto at February 22, 2006 12:48 PM
Oh yeah, that is a fantastic fishing and camping spot!
I haven't been to the Keys in years. Duh! Of course, the old bridge! It makes sense. It's much lower to the water. Still, the currents can be so strong under any Keys bridge. I don't know the details, but if they were on a raft without an anchor, it boggles the mind that they'd be able to even get ON the bridge.
I wonder where the Coast Guard draws the line -- what if you land on a "dry" sanbar (as in the beach at Bahia Honda at low tide)? What if you step in a muddy mangrove?
I actually witnessed balseros coming ashore once, when I lived around Harding Ave and 80th St (Miami Beach). I was taking a walk on the boardwalk when helicopters were flying overhead. Everyone on the beach was applauding and cheering the balseros on, while booing the Coast Guard, which was in hot pursuit. The balseros made it to land. I'll never forget that moment. As well, one evening on my way home, I saw a group of people huddled in blankets. Officers were around, too. I knew what they were ... these things used to not affect me, but now que me estoy poniendo vieja, I feel the Cuban cause as something close to the heart.
Posted by: Manola B at February 22, 2006 01:22 PM
There's also a great little book about the railroad and its construction called "The Railroad That Died At Sea: The Florida East Coast's Key West Extension" by Pat Parks (The Stephen Greene Press Brattleboro VT). In case anyone is interested.
Posted by: Chet at February 22, 2006 08:05 PM
I missed the show last night. I just watched it several times. I am just overcome with emotion. Gracias mi amigo, poco a poco.
Posted by: ziva at February 22, 2006 11:06 PM
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