Published: 05/08/95
Section: FRONT
Page: 1A
Hundreds of Cuban exiles turned Sunday into a day of protests, venting their wrath at the Clinton administration by blocking the road to the Port of Miami with trucks and sit-ins and scuffling briefly with police.
The demonstrations were a desperate gambit, a last-ditch effort to dissuade the government from plans to return to Cuba 13 rafters rescued by a cruise ship in the Caribbean.
"Where are our brothers?" demonstrators chanted, referring to the 13 rafters.
It was not clear if the cries of dismay were heard at the White House.
U.S. authorities remained tight-lipped about the rafters' fate. The Coast Guard, which took the rafters off the cruise ship Majesty of the Seas late Friday, said it was still awaiting instructions from Washington on where to take them.
There were many forms of protest Sunday.
Amid threats by exiles to use boats to shut off Government Cut, the only route in and out of Miami's port, the Coast Guard stepped up its presence in the channel, escorting departing cruise ships out to sea.
Some demonstrators had vowed to block the cut at 5:30 p.m. as the Majesty of the Seas headed back out on another weeklong cruise. But only two small motorboats flying Cuban flags waited at the mouth of the channel, and they never approached the massive ship. On the South Pointe pier, about 20 people waved flags and booed the passing liner.
A representative of the Archdiocese of Miami, the Rev. Francisco Santana, read a statement to reporters condemning the decision to repatriate Cubans. The statement was issued by Auxiliary Bishop Agustin Roman, long a champion of Cuban refugees and the archdiocese's highest-ranking Cuban exile priest.
And pilots for Brothers to the Rescue flew to within 20 miles of the coast of Cuba, trying but failing to locate the Coast Guard cutter carrying the rafters. The pilots had hoped to photograph the cutter if and when it turned over the 13 men to Cuban authorities.
The biggest and most visible action took place in the heart of downtown Miami, within sight of thousands of tourists.
Starting at 7 a.m., a crowd of as many as 500 people intermittently cut off access to the port -- where the Majesty of the Seas docked at dawn Sunday -- by blocking the road leading to it with vehicles and their own bodies. During the six-hour demonstration, they succeeded in shutting down the road several times for a total of about a half hour.
Dozens of Miami and Metro-Dade police officers were on the scene, and 10 people were detained. At least two were charged with failing to obey the directions of police officers and obstructing justice, but others were released without charges. Those arrested were later released without having to post bail. Demonstrators collected money to help pay fines and towing charges.
At one point, demonstrators crashed through a metal barricade keeping them off the port road. There was brief struggle involving about 10 officers and 20 demonstrators. But in general there was little confrontation, and there were no injuries.
After the scuffle, demonstration leaders and Miami Police Assistant Chief Raul Martinez, a Cuban American, came to an agreement. The next two times the demonstrators blocked the street, the police allowed them through the barricades without resistance. On those two occasions, the demonstrators cleared the road voluntarily after about 10 minutes.
Miami Police Chief Donald H. Warshaw said his officers were getting ready for more demonstrations during the next several days if the rafters are returned to Cuba.
Leaders of Sunday's protest said they planned to meet today to plan further action.
A survey released by Spanish-language WLTV-Channel 23 showed the demonstrators' concerns were shared by many of Dade County's Hispanic adults. According to the three-day poll, two- thirds of them disagreed with the administration's decision to repatriate rafters.
But the poll also indicated Dade residents are sharply divided on the issue. Three-fourths of blacks and non-Hispanic whites support the new policy.
Under Clinton's toughened policy, negotiated in secret with the Cuban government, the 21,000 rafters held at the U.S. Navy Base at Guantanamo Bay will be granted entry into the United States, but all rafters picked up at sea will be repatriated.
Herald staff writers Elaine De Valle, Ana Menendez, David Hancock and Frances Robles contributed to this report.
CUTLINES:
JEFFERY A. SALTER / Herald Staff
CRIES OF DISMAY: Exiles angered over the new Cuba policy block a truck attempting to enter the Port of Miami, where the Majesty of the Seas docked Sunday. The demonstration lasted six hours.
JEFFERY A. SALTER / Herald Staff
PHOTOS AT RALLY: Cesar Cabale, Ulises Cabale are among those facing repatriation.
© 1996 The Miami Herald.