<Back

Next>

Home

Dancing Down a Dream - index

Gallery

Puerto Esperanza is on Cuba’s northern coast and lies in a cove sheltered by islands and areas of heavy mangrove. The pier seen here has in the past been an exit point for many Cubans who have decided to leave their homeland for the United States. In 1980, an event called the Mariel Boatlift occurred when Castro took U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s words regarding his welcoming political refugees with "open arms" seriously and allowed more than 120,000 Cubans, including dissidents, criminals, homosexuals, and other "antisocial elements" to leave in boats sent to the island by Cuban-American groups in Miami. Similarly, 1994 saw Castro counter the U.S. for not honoring its agreement to allow Cubans to migrate legally by no longer trying to prevent Cubans from going illegally. During a three-week period, over 20,000 people had been rescued at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard and shipped back to the Guantánamo Naval Base which was later expanded to house 65,000 refugees.