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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Cuban Police Demands - Knock off the Auto Show |
| 2004-02-11 |
| I didn’t have the heart to EFL this one very much. It stands as a tribute to those who love freedom and like classic cars as well. Cuban police inspected a house and several auto repair shops Wednesday in a neighborhood where residents recently converted two 1950s cars into boats that refugees used in attempts to reach the United States. The search came a day after eight residents of the Diezmero neighborhood in Havana were returned to Cuba by the U.S. Coast Guard after their converted 1959 Buick was spotted floating off Key West, Fla. That was the second time in seven months such a trip was attempted. Last July, a group including some of the same refugees from Diezmero "set sail" in a converted 1951 Chevy pickup outfitted with pontoons and waterproofed doors. They too were stopped by U.S. authorities and returned to Cuba. On Wednesday, police said they were looking for a red 1951 Ford pickup belonging to the family of Marcial Basanta, one of the refugees returned to Cuba on Tuesday, according to Basanta’s father, also named Marcial. "They broke the door (of the family’s house) and said they were going to take the truck away," the elder Basanta said. But the authorities left without seizing the vehicle, which was parked in an adjacent garage. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |