I'm no fan of smugglers who are in this business only for the money - charging 10-grand a head however, I recall a situation from about a year-and-a-half ago when it was the Coast Guard that was responsible for the death of another migrant. We touched on that story here on Babalu.

If this individual is dead as a result of negligence and "hot pursuit" by a CG cutter, than those on that cutter are without a doubt - partly responsible for the death of this individual and should be held accountable. Coast Guard members don't get a free pass for manslaughter.

I'm waiting to get the whole story. This wetfoot/dryfoot horse shit has gone on for too long.

I'm sorry Cubawatch, but I don't agree with your comment.

This is a country of laws. The coastguard are only doing their job. What I would do is go after the families of those that pay to put the life of their loved one in danger.

There are legal ways of entering this country and Cubans do have certain fringe benefits that other nationals don't have.

I won't begrudge anyone willing to do absolutely anything to get a loved one off the island. Personally, I think hiring a smuggler is insane - as it's just too dangerous - but, I'm not going to come down on someone who sees it as a last resort. The lottery to enter the U.S. is just that - a lottery, a crap shoot - and it's not as if we're talking about emigrating from the UK or France. This is essentially and island prison.

The methods used by the Coast Guard in recent years - firing on the engines of fast boats which can result in either A) hitting an innocent refugee with a live round or B) sending the craft into a tailspin are incredibly dangerous and in such cases - both the Coast Guard AND the smugglers are directly responsible.

If these smugglers were engaging in this activity for only the cost of gas, I'd applaud them. Fact of the matter is however, it's all about money and I've got some serious problems with benefiting financially from human misery.

Again, Firefly, we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. The CG men and women are just as damned as the smugglers in these cases. Orders are meaningless if they are immoral and it is the duty of any enlisted man or woman to NOT carry out orders which often result in the completely unnecessary deaths of innocents. No free pass.