This Saturday, at the Ermita de la Caridad in Miami, Cubans commemorated the 30th anniversary of the barbaric act
14ymedio, Jose Antonio Garcia Molina, Miami, 14 July 2024 — A dozen white crosses with images of children’s faces commemorated the children who died in the sinking of the 13 de Marzo tugboat. The commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the tragedy, at the entrance to the Ermita de la Caridad in Miami on Saturday, has brought together a Cuban exile community that continues to demand justice for the 37 victims of that massacre.
The church, a meeting place for a community that has been nourished by successive waves of migrants from the island, was attended by everyone from the elderly, who remember how they lived through that day of mourning for Cuban families, to children and adolescents who have grown up hearing the story in the voices of their parents and grandparents. The Cuban and American flags flanked the entrance.
Among those who arrived at the Hermitage was Iván Prieto, whose life was marked by tragedy. This Havana native, currently 57 years old, was among the 68 people who were aboard the tugboat 13 de Marzo that set sail from the port of Havana bound for the United States on 13 July 1994. Even when he closes his eyes, he remembers the confusion, the screams, and the fact that when he fell into the water he couldn’t even see his own hands.
“I managed to survive but many others died there, falling into the water, because they did not rescue us.”
As soon as they left the coast, the port authorities sent other tugboats after the migrants, including the Polargo 5, which led the attack by spraying jets of water onto the deck of the 13 de Marzo and also ramming it until it sank. In that act of barbarity, Prieto lost 14 members of his family, including his father. “It was terrible,” he now tells 14ymedio.
“They sank us with jets of water and blows,” he recalls. “I managed to survive, but many others died there, falling into the water, because they didn’t rescue us.” A few meters from where Prieto recalls his story, a poster with images of the victims asks “Justice for our dead!” and another billboard asks “Castro, do you know these children?” next to the image of the children who lost their lives that morning.
La Ermita fills up as the morning progresses. Some arrive dressed in yellow clothes in homage to the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Cuba’s patron saint; others light a candle, and most remain looking at the image that presides over the church, while they pray. Some of them, who liv
