Word: flotilla
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...flotilla of ships heading for Mariel has nearly disappeared, however, thanks to President Carter's order two weeks ago setting up a 200-mile Coast Guard and naval blockade of the Florida Straits. U.S. Customs is seizing any vessel that brings back refugees...
Beyond the near panic in Florida's large Cuban-American community, Carter's sudden crackdown on the flotilla chugging between Key West and Castro's designated embarkation port of Mariel produced other uncertainties. By seizing 113 boats by week's end and threatening boatowners with fines of up to $50,000 and prison terms of up to ten years, the Administration had effectively stopped the sailing of boats out of Key West. Yet some 1,500 American craft still lay in Mariel, capable of carrying an average of 45 refugees each-a potential capacity...
...embassy refugees with the understanding that the Immigration and Naturalization Service could screen them before allowing them into the U.S. Suddenly thousands were landing illegally in Florida with no entry visas in hand. Washington first implored boat-owners not to head for Mariel. When that failed to deter the flotilla, the Government hinted it might accept only the first 3,500, whether embassy refugees or not, and deport the rest. The threat was correctly seen as an empty one since the U.S. has routinely granted asylum to Cuban refugees since Castro came to power...
...also been imposed in an attempt to discourage U.S. boat crews, many of them hopeless land lubbers, from risking their lives on the high seas. Indeed, when a fierce storm with near hurricane-force winds lashed the straits last week a major disaster threatened the main body of the flotilla. Nine boats sank and nine boats capsized. Coast Guard cutters plucked 14 people from the 8-ft. waves and towed 65 vessels back to Key West. It was considered miraculous that only four people drowned...
Despite the obstacles, the flotilla continued to grow. Cuban Americans with relatives on the island converged on Key West from Ohio, California and New York, only to find that their thousands of dollars in cash were still not enough to meet the exorbitant prices. Skippers demanded $1,000 or more to ferry each refugee; charter fees for shrimp boats went as high...