The Causes And Consequences Of The Cuban Rafter Crisis

For those living in South Florida—the closest point in the US to Cuba—the problem of marine refugees is a reality of everyday life. The largest local newspaper, The Miami Herald, publishes stories about Cuban refugees on a regular basis, the most recent story is dated September 23rd, 2014. The island has a peculiar history with the United States and South Florida, Miami specifically, has the largest population of Cubans living in exile of any place in the world. In order to understand why these people jump on often manmade rafts—risking sunburn, dehydration, and perils at sea—we must first understand the forces within the country that are pushing these extreme outcomes. The country has been ruled by the communist government instituted by Fidel Castro since 1959. Castro led a revolution to overthrow the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista before him …show more content…
This resulted in what has come to be known as the Cuban Rafter Crisis of 1994. Starting in 1991, the number of rafters leaving the island was increasing steadily until the point when there were about 500 Cubans landing on US soil per day in the first weeks on July 1994. The Cuban government began to crack down on these violations and eventually the people pushed back, protesting in front of the capital city’s most prominent location, the seawall—or El Malecon. Castro again announced that those who wanted to leave were free to do so, that the Cuban coast guard would not stop them. However, this time the US government was not going to be as permissive. With Clinton as president, the US Coast Guard was instructed to not allow any rafters make landfall. Instead, those who were captured where taken to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, and remained there with no prospect of ever being granted entry into the