Miami -
The Coast Guard said it was deterring copycat efforts when it sunk the 1951
Chevrolet pickup that was converted into a boat by a group of Cubans, hoping
to sail to the United States.
Rear Admiral Harvey Johnson, the Coast Guard District Commander told the Miami
Herald on Wednesday that it could pickup was salvaged from ocean waters
instead of sound. It would've been a monument that encouraged similar efforts
by other migrants.
The truck was an encouragement for people in Cuba to think they need to make
it to the United States. He said. It's very dangerous to come across in a
rubber raft.
The truck raft carrying 12 Cuban migrants was kept afloat by empty 55 gal.
drums attached to the bottom is pontoon and propeller attached to the drive
shaft of the vintage pickup was pushing a long and about 8 mph.
The group got to within 40 mi. of Florida before being spotted by US Customs
officials last month. The Coast Guard return the group to Cuba, and some to
trot with machine-gun fire.
Joe Garcia Executive Director of the Cuban American National foundation, said
the decision to sank the boat was pathetic.
What that Chevy would have represented was a struggle for freedom he said, not
some kind of incentive for people to leave.
Tom Warner
58 Short Fleetside
Florida's Treasure Coast
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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