10 Years Ago Today

Today is the anniversary of the shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue planes over the Florida Straits. As promised, I will describe my feelings on that day, and how my feelings have since evolved.

My first reaction upon hearing the news was one of great sadness, followed by anger. Not all my anger was directed at who you might think, however. A lot of my anger was directed at Jose Basulto, the leader of the Brothers. About one month before the incident, he flew over Havana and dropped anti-regime leaflets down to the city. This of course, incensed the Cuban regime. Tensions were higher than normal.

Because of what Basulto did the previous month, I blamed him for doing his part in "provoking" the Cubans to do such a horrific thing. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't leave the Cubans off the hook. Who in their right mind would authorize the shooting down of four unarmed Cessnas in international waters? No matter how many times Basulto may have flown over Havana, there's no justification for what castro ordered his pilots to do.

In the days and weeks following the incident, reaction from the community started to pour in. Indignation from the Cuban community. A puzzling indifference and even what I would call an "I told you so" from certain sectors of the non-Cuban community. Yes, Basulto should have been more careful, I thought, but what exactly would drive someone to think that the blowing up of two (thanks Ventanita for the correction) unarmed Cessnas carrying three American citizens and one resident over international waters was somewhat justified or understood? Even after the evidence clearly showed that the pilots were not in Cuban waters, some people still thought that way!

I was somewhat surprised to read in Wednesday's Herald article that the family of the four who perished harbor resentment toward Basulto for his role in the incident. It surprised me because it's not much different from how I felt.

I still feel Basulto should have been more cautious. However, my sadness toward the families of the four is what predominates, along with a feeling of disappointment at the U.S. government for not doing more to punish the regime. Think about it, four Americans were shot down in unarmed planes in international waters in what was obviously a hostile act by a hostile nation, and what did we do?

Actually, the Clinton administration responded by tightening the embargo. This response, of course, also served to prevent a mass exodus of Cubans to the U.S., which is the driving factor around every decision which all other administrations up to and including the current one seem to make.

Four Americans, whose only purpose on that clear February day was to help those fleeing Cuba reach shore safely.

Four Americans, their lives cut short by an evil regime.

Four Americans, who live on in the minds of many.