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Cubans who capsized off Key West are sent home
Associated Press
Published November 13, 2005
MIAMI - The U.S. Coast Guard repatriated 34 Cubans who were rescued from a boat that capsized in the Straits of Florida in an alleged smuggling operation.
The Cubans were on an overloaded 27-foot boat that capsized Nov. 5 in rough seas about 65 miles south of Key West.
The bodies of two women who drowned were found beneath the boat. Family members have identified the women as Luisa Cardentey, 60, and Isabel Machado, 74.
The Coast Guard has said the Cubans were part of a smuggling trip, and details of an investigation have been forwarded to the U.S. Attorney's Office. But relatives of Cardentey and Machado denied the smuggling accusations and said everyone on board was related to the dead women.
Federal authorities questioned the boat's captain, Jorge Ernesto Leyva, but released him without charging him, said Matthew Archambeault, an attorney for the families.
Under U.S. policy, Cuban migrants intercepted at sea are usually returned to Cuba, and those who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay.
[Last modified November 13, 2005, 03:00:43]
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