SOUTH CIRCUIT Presents
Tugboat Massacre - Cuban tyranny

On July 13, 1994, seventy two Cubans attempting to leave the inferno's island from the port of Havana, in an old tugboat named "13 de Marzo"........... Forty-one were murdered.

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On July 13, 1994, at approximately 3:00 a.m., 72 Cuban nationals who were attempting to leave the island for the United States put out to sea from the port of Havana in an old tugboat named "13 de Marzo". The boat used for the escape belonged to the Maritime Services Enterprise of the Ministry of Transportation.

According to eyewitnesses who survived the disaster, no sooner had the tug "13 de Marzo" set off from the Cuban port than two boats from the same state enterprise began pursuing it. About 45 minutes into the trip, when the tug was seven miles away from the Cuban coast--in a place known as "La Poceta"--two other boats belonging to said enterprise appeared, equipped with tanks and water hoses, proceeded to attack the old tug. "Polargo 2," one of the boats belonging to the Cuban state enterprise, blocked the old tug "13 de Marzo" in the front, while the other, "Polargo 5," attacked from behind, splitting the stern. The two other government boats positioned themselves on either side and sprayed everyone on deck with pressurized water, using their hoses.

The pleas of the women and children on the deck of the tug "13 de Marzo" did nothing to stop the attack. The boat sank, with a toll of 41 dead. Many people perished because the jets of water directed at everyone on deck forced them to seek refuge in the engine room. The survivors also affirmed that the crews of the four Cuban government boats were dressed in civilian clothes and that they did not help them when they were sinking.

The victims who died in the incident of July 13, 1994 are: Leonardo Notario Góngora (27), Marta Tacoronte Vega (36), Caridad Leyva Tacoronte (36), Yausel Eugenio Pérez Tacoronte (11), Mayulis Méndez Tacoronte (17), Odalys Muñoz García (21), Pilar Almanza Romero (30), Yaser Perodín Almanza (11), Manuel Sánchez Callol (58), Juliana Enriquez Carrasana (23), Helen Martínez Enríquez (6 months), Reynaldo Marrero (45), Joel García Suárez (24), Juan Mario Gutiérrez García (10), Ernesto Alfonso Joureiro (25), Amado Gonzáles Raices (50), Lázaro Borges Priel (34), Liset Alvarez Guerra (24), Yisel Borges Alvarez (4), Guillermo Cruz Martínez (46), Fidelio Ramel Prieto-Hernández (51), Rosa María Alcalde Preig (47), Yaltamira Anaya Carrasco (22), José Carlos Nicole Anaya (3), María Carrasco Anaya (44), Julia Caridad Ruiz Blanco (35), Angel René Abreu Ruiz (3), Jorge Arquímides Lebrijio Flores (28), Eduardo Suárez Esquivel (39), Elicer Suárez Plascencia, Omar Rodríguez Suárez (33), Miralis Fernández Rodríguez (28), Cindy Rodríguez Fernández (2), José Gregorio Balmaceda Castillo (24), Rigoberto Feut Gonzáles (31), Midalis Sanabria Cabrera (19), and four others who could not be identified.

The surviving victims are: Mayda Tacoronte Verga (28), Milena Labrada Tacoronte (3), Román Lugo Martínez (30), Daysi Martínez Findore (26), Tacney Estévez Martínez (3), Susana Rojas Martínez (8), Raúl Muñoz García (23), Janette Hernández Gutiérrez (19), Modesto Almanza Romero (28), Fran Gonzáles Vásquez (21), Daniel Gonzáles Hernández (21), Sergio Perodín Pérez (38), Sergio Perodín Almanza (7), Gustavo Guillermo Martínez Gutiérrez (38), Yandi Gustavo Martínez Hidalgo (9), José Fabián Valdés (17), Eugenio Fuentes Díaz (36), Juan Gustavo Bargaza del Pino (42), Juan Fidel Gonzáles Salinas (42), Reynaldo Marrero Canarana (16), Daniel Prieto Suárez (22), Iván Prieto Suárez (26), Jorge Luis Cuba Suárez (23), María Victoria García Suárez (28), Arquímides Venancio Lebrijio Gamboa (52), Yaussany Tuero Sierra (20), Pedro Francisco Garijo Galego (31), Julio César Domínguez Alcalde (33), Armando Morales Piloto (38), Juan Bernardo Varela Amaro, and Jorge Alberto Hernández Avila (33

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