By FERNANDO ALMANZAR
El Nuevo Herald

To Maria Victoria Garcia, a survivor of the 1994 sinking of the tugboat 13 de Marzo outside Havana harbor, the past five years in Cuba have been hell.

Since the morning of July 13, 1994 -- when she lost her husband, her 10-year-old son and 12 other relatives -- she has been the target of constant harassment by the authorities, Garcia said Wednesday, after arriving in Miami with her parents, Jorge Garcia Mas and Elisa Suarez.

``All this time, my life has been no life at all,'' said Garcia, 33, through tears. ``Ever since the tugboat sank, they haven't left me in peace.''

The tugboat, which had been commandeered by more than 70 Cubans, was trying to reach the high seas when it was rammed and sunk by several government vessels about seven miles from the coast. It is believed that 41 people drowned.

Since then, Garcia said, the authorities have not allowed her ``to lead a normal life.''

``We have been watched, abused and discriminated against,'' she said. ``Today, I speak out so everyone may know the truth about life in Cuba.''

Garcia's 54-year-old father said the sinking of the tugboat ``was mass murder,'' not an accident as the Cuban government has stated.

According to Garcia Mas, 48 hours after the sinking, a man who appeared to be a State Security agent handed him a list. The man said the document named the crewmen of the government vessels.

``At first, I took a knife and thought about seeking vengeance with my own hands, but then I reflected and learned to live with my pain,'' Garcia Mas said. ``I think that the government wanted me to kill those who caused the sinking so that they might become heroes of the revolution and we might be accused of murder.''

Displaying a photograph he said he took, Garcia Mas accused Jesus Martinez, a former family friend and captain of the government vessel Polargo V, as one of those responsible for the sinking of the tugboat. According to Garcia Mas, the Polargo V struck the blow that sent the 13 de Marzo under.

The Cuban American National Foundation secured U.S. visas for Maria Victoria Garcia and her parents, said Jorge Mas Santos, the group's vice chairman. The foundation ``will not rest until all those who survived the sinking are reunited on the land of the free,'' he said.