"13 de Marzo" Tugboat Massacre 30 Years Later: Actions Taken in Memory of the 37 Victims

 There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. - Elie Wiesel

 On July 13, 1994, 37 Cubans were massacred by Cuban government agents, 20 of the victims were between the ages of 5 months and 27 years old, during an operation staged by State Security. Only the sudden arrival of a Greek trawler brought the massacre to an end, leaving survivors to recount what had occurred. The slain Cubans wanted to live in freedom and had a relative who was a tugboat captain who could take them there on the "13 de Marzo" tugboat. What these Cubans were unaware of was that State Security had learned of the event and had planned their departure and execution six miles off the coast of Havana.

For the past two decades at FIU a moment of silence held on July 13

 

The Free Cuba Foundation (FCF) was founded in August 1993, and less than a year later, this tragedy shocked and outraged its members, prompting the group to continue denouncing the crime and demanding justice to this day.

On the first anniversary of the tugboat sinking, FCF members joined a flotilla organized by Ramon Saul Sanchez and what became known as the Democracy Movement, which entered Cuban seas to lay flowers at the massacre site. The hull of the lead boat "Democracia" on which Ramon Saul Sanchez was on board was rammed and crushed by Cuban gunboats. (Incidentally, the Democracy Movement organized a flotilla to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat tragedy.) At the same time, a silent vigil was conducted at Florida International University to remember the deaths.

Silent vigil at FIU on July 13, 1998

On July 14, 1998 Cathy Reyes of the FIU student newspaper, The Beacon, published a story on the vigil titled: "Free Cuba Foundation, community remember "13 de Marzo" victims" reporting on the 25 students and members of the university who gathered the day before in a silent vigil and quoted some of the FCF members who explained the reason for the event:

"Four years ago on early July 13, 1994, the tugboat "13 de Marzo" was attacked by agents of the Cuban government," said John Suarez, ... "They repeatedly rammed the tug, used high pressure water hoses on the victims and sank the ship seven miles off the coast of Havana, Cuba."

"We must remember those who died at the hands of Castro's inhumane regime," said Jose Raul Carro ...  

"We don't think FIU students know much about this event that occurred four years ago. It is an event that the whole world knows, but it is not as known in FIU," said Xavier Utset, FCF president

On December 10, 1998 we signed and sent a signed statement calling on the wider community to "Join Our Silent Call for Justice" that was published in The Miami Herald on December 28, 1998 which placed the July 13, 1994 "13 de Marzo" tugboat massacre into Cuba's historical context. In 1999 the Free Cuba Foundation made public another declaration, "Call for Justice on the 5th Anniversary of the "13 de Marzo" Massacre and announced the following:

"We seek to draw attention to these outrages, and we plan to do so by raising a civil and respectful call for justice. We believe that the crimes committed above are a result of the utilization of violence, arrogance, and hatred as government policy. The policy is evil. The best way to oppose evil is not with more evil. Gandhi observed that, "civility and humility are expressions of the spirit of non-violence while incivility and insolence indicates the spirit of violence." Therefore, on July 13, 1999, we will be fasting at Florida International University for 24 hours. We will be holding silent vigils in remembrance of those who have died violently in the Florida Straits..."

The 24 hour fast and a five minute silent vigil for justice were both carried out on July 13, 1999. Over the years in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 the silent vigils continued adding a minute to each year. On the tenth anniversary in 2004 the press descended on Florida International University and reported on the 10 minute vigil that year and The Miami Herald quoted FCF coordinator Neri Martinez:

'This was a massacre,'' said Neri Martínez, 22, coordinator of the Free Cuba Foundation, a student group that organized a vigil at Florida International University. The group marked 10 minutes of silence, one for each year that has passed. ''It's a silent call for justice,'' Martínez said. ``Not only are we remembering the victims, but we are also condemning the crimes committed by the Cuban government on its own people.''

 The Sun Sentinel offered the following report of what took place at FIU on July 13, 2004:

During a noon ceremony at Florida International University, about 20 people climbed up on the edge of an empty concrete fountain, joined hands and stood in silence for about 10 minutes."This was a very big crime against humanity," said Neri Martinez, coordinator for the Free Cuba Foundation, a student group. "People need to remember what's going on inside of Cuba."

On July 12, 2006 at Florida International University the Free Cuba Foundation organized a panel discussion on what had happened on July 13, 1994 and its links to the February 24, 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shoot down. Guest speakers were Ramon Saul Sanchez of the Democracy Movement and Jose Basulto of Brothers to the Rescue. The Associated Press made mention of the gathering in one of its stories on Cuba policy. The following day on July 13 at 12 noon a 12 minute silent vigil was held at the FIU main fountain and captured on video.

Past FCF presidents Susana Navajas (center) and Pedro Ross (far right) listen to Jorge Garcia

Silent vigils continued to be announced and held at Florida International University in 2007 and 2008 adding a minute for each year that had passed without justice. On 2009 for the 15th anniversary of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat massacre the Free Cuba Foundation held a panel discussion with Jorge Garcia, a family member, who had 14 relatives extrajudicially executed in the massacre. Earlier that day FCF held a 15 minute silent vigil. The Spanish newswire EFE reported the following:

"We want to say to the world that this was a crime against persons who only wanted to leave Cuba to have liberty. We consider that this crime should not remain in impunity," said Julio Menache co-president of FCF at FIU. FCF will commemorate the event with a vigil and projection of a ducumentary about persons who lost family members in the sinking of the tugboat. At the event will be present Jorge García who lost 14 family members, among them his son Joel of 20 years of age and his grandson Juan Marion, of 10 years.

In 2010 a dissident who had been jailed for protesting for justice in the case of the July 13, 1994 tugboat massacre joined the silent vigil at FIU organized by FCF and afterwards spoke with us about his ordeal. The silent vigils without much press attention continued to be held in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

FCF silent vigil at Florida International University in 2013

In 2014 we marked 20 years and the silent vigil was held for 20 minutes. Members reflected on what else could be done to obtain justice using nonviolent means for the 37 victims of the tugboat massacre. We called on people of good will world around the world to gather, hold and document their own 20 minute silent vigils for justice for the victims of the July 13, 1994 "13 de Marzo" tugboat massacre.

20 minute Silent vigil at Florida International University on July 13, 2014

 

On Sunday, July 13, 2014 at 3:00pm members of the Free Cuba Foundation gathered at the main fountain at Florida International University [Facing the Library] 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL for a twenty minute silent vigil.  Other events were held in Miami, New York City, Washington DC, and in flotilla 12 miles off the coast of Cuba.

 

We realized that continuing to add a minute was not a feasible exercise after a 25 minute moment of silence in 2019, and beginning in 2020 the vigil was changed to 13 minutes.

On July 11, 2021 when protests broke out throughout Cuba we were outside the Cuban Embassy in Washington DC reading the names of the 37 victims of the "13 de marzo" tugboat massacre.

Let us return to the beginning, but with a reflection from inside Cuba.

Thirty years ago on July 13, 1994 at three in the morning three extended Cuban families set out for a better life aboard the "13 de Marzo" tugboat from Havana, Cuba and were massacred in a heinous crime committed by agents of the Cuban government. The most extensive international report on the events that took place was prepared by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Fifteen years later human rights champion Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas reflected on what had happened: 

Behind the Christ of Havana, about seven miles from the coast, "volunteers" of the Communist regime committed one of the most heinous crimes in the history of our city and of Cuba. In the morning, a group of seventy people in all, fled on a tugboat, led by the ship's own crew; none was kidnapped, or there against their will. They came out of the mouth of the Bay of Havana. They were pursued by other similar ships. When the runaway ship and its occupants stopped to surrender, the ships that had been chasing them started ramming to sink it. Meanwhile, on the deck, women with children in their arms begging for mercy, but the answer of their captors was to project high pressure water cannons against them. Some saw their children fall overboard under the murderous jets of water amid shrieks of horror. They behaved brutally until their perverse mission was fulfilled: Sink the fleeing ship and annihilate many of its occupants.

Twelve years ago on July 22, 2012 on a stretch of road in Eastern Cuba, State Security agents rammed the car Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante were traveling in. Both bodies appeared later that same day. The man who repeatedly denounced the "13 de Marzo" tugboat massacre would himself become a martyr of the same dictatorship along with Harold, a youth leader of the Christian Liberation Movement.

Three years ago on July 11, 2021 nonviolent protests broke out across Cuba, and the response of the Cuban dictatorship was murderously brutal with their agents firing on and killing unarmed protesters, and beating others to death. On the second day of these protests Diubis Laurencio Tejeda, age 36, was shot in the back by regime agents.

Christian Díaz, age 24, disappeared after joining the protests on July 12, 2021. Police first told his father that Christian was jailed in Matanzas, but later said he’d drowned at sea and was buried in a mass grave. His family is convinced he was beaten to death.

On July 13 at 6:00pm at Florida International University we will hold a 13 minute silent vigil in memory of July's Cuban martyrs.

Main Fountain @ Florida International University [Facing the Library and the Student Union]
            11200 SW 8th Street Miami, FL 33172

Additional information:

For additional information on the "13 de Marzo" tugboat case visit the
following websites:

Amnesty International
CUBA: The Sinking of the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat on 13 July 1994 /
Amnesty International Report

https://www.amnesty.org/es/documents/amr25/013/1997/en/

Inter American Commission on Human Rights (Organization of American States)
REPORT Nº 47/96 CASE 11.436 VICTIMS OF THE TUGBOAT "13 DE MARZO" vs. CUBA
October 16, 1996 Inter American Commission on Human Rights
https://cidh.oas.org/annualrep/96span/Cuba11436.htm

 

For additional information on the Free Cuba Foundation visit the Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/pages/Free-Cuba-Foundation/153101299564

Fact Sheet on July 13, 1994 "13 de Marzo" Tugboat Massacre

Reconciliation necessitates both truth and justice.

On July 13, 1994, a group of 72 Cubans, including children and women, tried to escape from the Island of Cuba aboard an old tugboat. State Security Forces, and four Cuban government boats of the Havana regime intercepted the boat 7 miles off the coast of Cuba, with water jets from pressure hoses pulled people off the deck, tore the children from the arms of their mothers and sank the tugboat. 37 people were murdered, 11 of them children.  

Fact 1:  In the early morning hours of July 13, 1994, four boats belonging to the Cuban State and equipped with water hoses attacked an old tugboat that was fleeing Cuba with 72 people on board.  The incident occurred seven miles off the Cuban coast, opposite the port of Havana.  The complaint also indicates that the Cuban State boats attacked the runaway tug with their prows with the intention of sinking it, while at the same time spraying everyone on the deck of the boat, including women and children, with pressurized water.  The pleas of the women and children to stop the attack were in vain, and the old boat--named "13 de Marzo"--sank, with a toll of 41 deaths, including ten minors.  Thirty-one people survived the events of July 13, 1994.

Source:  IACHR REPORT Nº 47/96 CASE 11.436 VICTIMS OF THE TUGBOAT "13 DE MARZO" vs. CUBA     October 16, 1996  http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/96eng/Cuba11436.htm

Fact 2: 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.

Source:  IACHR REPORT Nº 47/96 CASE 11.436 VICTIMS OF THE TUGBOAT "13 DE MARZO" vs. CUBA     October 16, 1996  http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/96eng/Cuba11436.htm

Fact 3: 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.

Source:  IACHR REPORT Nº 47/96 CASE 11.436 VICTIMS OF THE TUGBOAT "13 DE MARZO" vs. CUBA     October 16, 1996  http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/96eng/Cuba11436.htm

Fact 4: In  the  days  immediately  following  the  tragedy,  the  authorities  attempted  to  prevent  any protest or public demonstration of grief.    A mass for the victims had to be cancelled and people  wearing  black  armbands  as  a  sign  of  mourning  were  also  reportedly  detained briefly.    Relatives  of  the  victims were  also  reportedly  prevented  from  throwing  flowers into the sea on the grounds that that is only usually done for “martyrs of the Revolution”. On  23  July  1994 Aida  Rosa  Jiménezof  the Movimiento  de  Madres  Cubanas  Por  la Solidaridad,  Movement  of  Cuban  Mothers  for  Solidarity,  which  had  called  on  Cuba women to wear black or purple ribbons for three days as a sign of mourning, was arrested at her home and taken to State Security headquarters at Villa Marista. She was reportedly told by officials that it was because of her efforts to encourage people to attend a mass in commemoration of the victims of the tugboat sinking.

Source: Amnesty International "Human Rights Defenders and Activists  Cuba: The sinking of the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat on 13 July 1994" 30 June 1997, Index number: AMR 25/013/1997  https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr25/013/1997/en/ 

Fact 5: In  1996,  in  his  report  to  the  52nd  Session  of  the  UN  Commission  on  Human Rights7, the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions stated that he had transmitted allegations concerning the case to the Cuban Government in June 1995  and  expressed  deep  concern  that  he  had  not  received  a reply.  He  urged  that  the allegations  be properly investigated, the perpetrators brought to justice and the victims’ families compensated.    The UN Special Rapporteur on Cuba, in his interim report to the UN General Assembly dated 7 October 1996, also expressed serious concern “about the fact that an event of this magnitude, in which 37 people died, has not been investigated”. 

Source: Amnesty International "Human Rights Defenders and Activists  Cuba: The sinking of the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat on 13 July 1994" 30 June 1997, Index number: AMR 25/013/1997  https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr25/013/1997/en/  

Fact 6:  Despite consistent testimonies that four Transportation Ministry boats fired water cannons onto the decks of the tugboat and later rammed and sank it, President Castro denied a government role in the sinking.131 Although President Castro asserted that Cuba had fully investigated the incident, the commission noted that Cuba never recovered the bodies lost in the tugboat, nor the boat itself, and concluded that "there was no judicial investigation and the political organs directed by the Cuban Chief of State rushed to absolve of all responsibility the officials who went to meet the 13 de Marzo tugboat."132

Source: Human Rights Watch,Cuba's Repressive Machinery https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-11.htm  (1999)

Fact 7:  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).

Source:  IACHR REPORT Nº 47/96 CASE 11.436 VICTIMS OF THE TUGBOAT "13 DE MARZO" vs. CUBA     October 16, 1996  http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/96eng/Cuba11436.htm

Fact 8:  Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, who was murdered on July 22, 2012 by state security agents, addressed the significance of this crime. "Behind the Christ of Havana, about seven miles from the coast, "volunteers" of the Communist regime committed one of the most heinous crimes in the history of our city and of Cuba." ... "Let the silenced bells toll. But let them toll for all the victims of terror that in reality is only one sole victim: the Cuban people that without distinctions, suffers the loss of each one of their children." 

Source: Human Rights Watch,Cuba's Repressive Machinery https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-11.htm  (1999)

Fact 9:  One year after the massacre on July 13, 1995, Cuban exiles gathered together and set out in a flotilla that peacefully invaded Cuban national territory to travel to the spot where the "13 de Marzo" tugboat sank and where the human remains of the 37 victims still reside never returned to their families to this day to hold religious services for them. Ramón Saúl Sánchez organized and led the flotilla aboard the boat christened "Democracia". Upon entering Cuban waters the Castro regime sent their patrol boats, helicopters, and MiGs to surround and intimidate the flotilla, but it continued until the lead boat's hull was crushed by two patrol boats, and people onboard were hurt. 

Fact 10: Responding to the attack on the flotilla on July 13, 1995, Brothers to the Rescue planes overflew Havana dropping leaflets that read "Comrades No. Brothers" in Spanish. It was on that day that the Democracy Movement came into existence. It was also on that day that the Castro regime began planning its reprisal against Brothers to the Rescue, enlisting members of the WASP spy network to provide intelligence that led to the deaths of four innocents on February 24, 1996 in an act of state terrorism.

Source: http://www.hermanos.org/Doss-Tab%20B.htm

13 minute silent vigil to protest 26 years of justice denied for 37 Cuban victims of the "13 de Marzo" massacre

To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.” - Elie Wiesel, Night

Over the past 26 years Cubans have mourned the 37 men, women, and children who were extrajudicially executed by agents of the Cuban government on July 13, 1994 "13 de Marzo" tugboat was attacked and sunk.

Tragically, Chinese are mourning Chinese Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and human rights defender Liu Xiaobo who died three years ago on July 13, 2017 at the First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China after being unjustly imprisoned from December 8, 2008 until his untimely death. It is likely that he died of a cancer made terminal by politically motivated neglect. July 13th will mark three years since his passing. After eight years in "unofficial detention" his widow Liu Xia was finally allowed to leave China on July 10, 2018.

Liu Xiaobo  was one of the authors of Charter 08 and signed it along with more than three hundred Chinese citizens. The Charter is a manifesto that was released on December 10, 2008, the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It calls for more freedom of expression, human rights, more democratic elections, the privatization of state enterprises and economic liberalization and would collect over 10,000 signatures.

Charter 08 is reminiscent of the Varela Project that was initially signed by 11,020 Cubans in May of 2002 calling on the Cuban government to respect international human rights norms and engage in the same kind of reforms. Both were inspired by Vaclav Havel and Charter 77. 

Lamentably one of the authors of the Varela Project, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, founding leader of the Christian Liberation Movement and a youth leader of the same movement, Harold Cepero Escalante were both extrajudicially executed eight years ago on July 22, 2012 in a crash engineered by the Cuban dictatorship's agents.

The demand for justice remains unfulfilled in all these cases, but we must not despair.

We must bear witness embracing truth and memory in defiance of the attempt to whitewash and forget. Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel explained the importance of doing this in his 1986 Nobel Lecture on why it is important to remember:  

"To forget the victims means to kill them a second time. So I couldn't prevent the first death. I surely must be capable of saving them from a second death." ... "There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." 

On July 13th at 12 noon we will be in front of the Cuban embassy in a silent protest for 13 minutes for the 37 victims of the July 13, 1994 "13 de Marzo" tugboat massacre and will send this brief essay to the Liu Xiaobo website, light a candle and say a prayer for these victims of communism, their loved ones, and for justice. We will maintain social distance, and ask all participants to bring a mask and cover their mouth and nose through the event.

We will continue to remember.

July 13, 2017
Liu Xiaobo, Age: 61

July 22, 2012
Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, Age: 60
Harold Cepero Escalante, Age: 32

July 13, 1994
Hellen Martínez Enriquez. Age: 5 Months
Xicdy Rodríguez Fernández. Age: 2
Angel René Abreu Ruíz. Age: 3
José Carlos Niclas Anaya. Age: 3
Giselle Borges Alvarez. Age: 4
Caridad Leyva Tacoronte. Age: 5
Juan Mario Gutiérrez García. Age: 10
Yousell Eugenio Pérez Tacoronte. Age: 11
Yasser Perodín Almanza. Age: 11
Eliécer Suárez Plasencia. Age: 12
Mayulis Méndez Tacoronte. Age: 17
Miladys Sanabria Leal. Age: 19
Joel García Suárez. Age: 20
Odalys Muñoz García. Age: 21
Yalta Mila Anaya Carrasco. Age: 22
Luliana Enríquez Carrazana. Age: 22
Jorge Gregorio Balmaseda Castillo. Age: 24
Lissett María Alvarez Guerra. Age: 24
Ernesto Alfonso Loureiro. Age: 25
María Miralis Fernández Rodríguez. Age: 27
Leonardo Notario Góngora. Age: 28
Jorge Arquímedes Levrígido Flores. Age: 28
Pilar Almanza Romero. Age: 31
Rigoberto Feu González. Age: 31
Omar Rodríguez Suárez. Age: 33
Lázaro Enrique Borges Briel. Age: 34
Julia Caridad Ruíz Blanco. Age: 35
Martha Caridad Tacoronte Vega. Age: 35
Eduardo Suárez Esquivel. Age: 38
Martha Mirella Carrasco Sanabria. Age: 45
Augusto Guillermo Guerra Martínez. Age: 45
Rosa María Alcalde Puig. Age: 47
Estrella Suárez Esquivel. Age: 48
Reynaldo Joaquín Marrero Alamo. Age: 48
Amado González Raices. Age: 50
Fidencio Ramel Prieto Hernández. Age: 51
Manuel Cayol. Age: 56 

13 minute silent vigil for July's Cuban martyrs on July 13 at FIU's main fountain at 12 noon

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." - Elie Wiesel, Nobel Lecture 1986*

July 13, 1994 at three in the morning three extended Cuban families set out for a better life aboard the "13 de Marzo" tugboat from Havana, Cuba and were massacred in a heinous crime committed by agents of the Cuban government. The most extensive international report on the the events that took place was prepared by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 1996. Four years later on 1998 on the eve of Pope John Paul the Second's visit to Cuba Ted Koppel had a segment on the tugboat massacre interviewing survivor's and family members.  Fifteen years later human rights champion Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas reflected on what had happened:

Behind the Christ of Havana, about seven miles from the coast, "volunteers" of the Communist regime committed one of the most heinous crimes in the history of our city and of Cuba. In the morning, a group of seventy people in all, fled on a tugboat, led by the ship's own crew; none was kidnapped, or there against their will. They came out of the mouth of the Bay of Havana. They were pursued by other similar ships. When the runaway ship and its occupants stopped to surrender, the ships that had been chasing them started ramming to sink it. Meanwhile, on the deck, women with children in their arms begging for mercy, but the answer of their captors was to project high pressure water cannons against them. Some saw their children fall overboard under the murderous jets of water amid shrieks of horror. They behaved brutally until their perverse mission was fulfilled: Sink the fleeing ship and annihilate many of its occupants.

Four years ago on July 22, 2012 on a stretch of road in Eastern Cuba, State Security agents rammed the car Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante were traveling in. Both bodies appeared later that same day. The man who denounced the "13 de Marzo" tugboat massacre in 2009 would himself become a martyr of the same dictatorship along with Harold, a youth leader from the Christian Liberation Movement three years later in 2012 in the same month.
On July 13 at 12 noon at Florida International University the Free Cuba Foundation will hold a 13 minute silent vigil in memory of July's Cuban martyrs. This tradition has been underway at Florida International University for twenty years with one change. In the first year a one minute moment of silence was held and as each year passed without justice a minute was added. On the 20th anniversary we held a 20 minute moment of silence and after that we decided to set the minutes to 13 and in addition to remembering the 37 victims of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat sinking we would also remember Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante. We began this new practice last year. We ask to join us in continuing this tradition again this year at FIU and continue to make a silent demand for justice. Other activities have been organized by others to remember these crimes over the years.
 
What:   13 Minute Silent Vigil
When:  Wednesday, July 13 at 12 noon
Where: Main Fountain at Florida International University
             [Between Library, and Charles Perry (PC) building]
Why:    Remember and Demand Justice for the Dead

July 22, 2012 Extrajudicial Killings

Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas. Age: 60
Harold Cepero Escalante. Age: 32

July 13, 1994 "13 de Marzo" Tugboat Massacre Victims

Hellen Martínez Enriquez. Age: 5 Months 
Xicdy Rodríguez Fernández. Age: 2 
Angel René Abreu Ruíz. Age: 3 
José Carlos Niclas Anaya. Age: 3 
Giselle Borges Alvarez. Age: 4 
Caridad Leyva Tacoronte. Age: 5 
Juan Mario Gutiérrez García. Age: 10 
Yousell Eugenio Pérez Tacoronte. Age: 11 
Yasser Perodín Almanza. Age: 11 
Eliécer Suárez Plasencia. Age: 12 
Mayulis Méndez Tacoronte. Age: 17 
Miladys Sanabria Leal. Age: 19 
Joel García Suárez. Age: 20 
Odalys Muñoz García. Age: 21 
Yalta Mila Anaya Carrasco. Age: 22 
Luliana Enríquez Carrazana. Age: 22 
Jorge Gregorio Balmaseda Castillo. Age: 24 
Lissett María Alvarez Guerra. Age: 24 
Ernesto Alfonso Loureiro. Age: 25 
María Miralis Fernández Rodríguez. Age: 27 
Leonardo Notario Góngora. Age: 28 
Jorge Arquímedes Levrígido Flores. Age: 28 
Pilar Almanza Romero. Age: 31 
Rigoberto Feu González. Age: 31 
Omar Rodríguez Suárez. Age: 33 
Lázaro Enrique Borges Briel. Age: 34 
Julia Caridad Ruíz Blanco. Age: 35 
Martha Caridad Tacoronte Vega. Age: 35 
Eduardo Suárez Esquivel. Age: 38 
Martha Mirella Carrasco Sanabria. Age: 45 
Augusto Guillermo Guerra Martínez. Age: 45 
Rosa María Alcalde Puig. Age: 47 
Estrella Suárez Esquivel. Age: 48 
Reynaldo Joaquín Marrero Alamo. Age: 48 
Amado González Raices. Age: 50 
Fidencio Ramel Prieto Hernández. Age: 51 
Manuel Cayol. Age: 56 

 *We pray for Elie Wiesel and thank him bearing witness for victims of oppression and injustice. 

On July 13th how will we remember the victims of the Castro regime's repression?

"In Cuba there are missing and it is known who has disappeared them, the latter are heroes for the government."..."There are more than 20 murdered children waiting to be claimed and mothers and grandmothers who were not allowed to look for them when they were killed off the coast of Havana " - Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, El Nuevo Herald, March 18, 2005*

Ever since the July 13, 1994 massacre the Free Cuba Foundation has organized actions to remember what took place on that day. This year will also mark on July 22nd three years since the killings of two nonviolent human rights defenders, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante.

Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas from his home in Havana, Cuba spoke clearly and courageously about the events that took place on July 13, 1994 six miles off the Cuban coastline. It was that kind of speaking truth to power in Cuba, and the courage to nonviolently organize others in support of a democratic transition that led to his being a hated target of the regime. Oswaldo knew what the stakes were: "They have told me that they will kill me before this regime ends, but I will not flee." On July 22, 2012 the Castro dictatorship carried out its promise killing him and Harold.

July 13 also marks 20 years since a 13 boat flotilla entered Cuban waters in an attempt to hold religious services 6 miles off the Cuban coast where the remains of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat victims still reside only to see its lead boat Democracia's hull crushed and people hurt by Cuban regime gunboats.

Free Cuba Foundation members are discussing various ideas to remember these injustices in a creative matter. What would you suggest? How do you plan to remember the 37 men, women and children massacred by Cuban government agents on July 13, 1994? How do you plan to remember Oswaldo and Harold and what happened on July 22, 2012?

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*Original quote: "En Cuba sí hay desaparecidos y se sabe quiénes los desaparecieron, estos últimos son héroes para el gobierno" ... "Hay más de 20 niños asesinados que esperan ser reivindicados y madres y abuelas a las que no se les permitió buscarlos cuando los asesinaron en las costas de La Habana." - Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, MENSAJE DE PAYÁ DESTACA QUE EN LA ISLA HAY DESAPARECIDOS  El Nuevo Herald, March 18, 2005 - PAGE: 23A SECTION: Panorama

"13 de Marzo" Tugboat Massacre 20 Years Later: Actions Taken in Memory of the 37 Victims

"State crimes are never an issue exclusive to the families of the victims." - Rosa Maria Payá over twitter, July 10, 2014 

Totalitarian regimes, such as the one in Cuba, depend on their survival by rewriting history and engaging in a society wide amnesia of their great crimes. In the case of the July 13, 1994 "13 de Marzo" tugboat sinking that claimed 37 lives the Castro regime has failed and the memory of this crime has endured as have the calls for justice. Below are just some of the actions carried out to remember and demand justice.

Twenty minutes of silence for 20 years without justice: Silent Vigil on July 13 at 3:00pm

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The Free Cuba Foundation made a global call  for people of good will to hold a twenty minute moment of silence asking: "Please share and encourage friends wherever they are on July 13, 2014 at 3pm to join in a 20 minute moment of silence. Gather in a group or individually and take a photo at the end of the vigil holding up the above image calling for justice or whatever you have at hand. "  On Sunday at 3:00pm members of the Free Cuba Foundation gathered at the main fountain at Florida International University [Facing the Library] 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL for a twenty minute silent vigil. For more information visit their facebook page.

"Lights of Liberty Flotilla in Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Massacre of the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat Sinking

In the Florida Straits and in Miami the Democracy Movement organized a flotilla on Saturday, July 12, 2014 called the "Lights of Liberty Flotilla in Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Massacre of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat sinking that left Key West from the Key West City Bight Marina and traveled to 12 miles off the coast of Cuba on Saturday, July 12, 2014 and held a ceremony in memory of the victims of the massacre and others murdered by Castroism and launched powerful lights of freedom, which were seen from Havana and other points of Cuba. Inside Cuba, members of the opposition and the Democracy Movement drew near to the Malecon and other points on the coast with candles and flowers throwing them into the sea and saw the "Lights of Freedom" launched by the flotilla. For more information visit their facebook page and official web site.

Mothers and Women Against Repression (MAR) will Remember Victims of the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat Massacre

On Sunday July 13, 2014- the twentieth anniversary of this crime against humanity. - MAR for Cuba held a rosary for the victims of the"13 de Marzo" tugboat massacre, on the grounds of the Cuban Memorial Monument, that is located on Coral Way & SW 112 Avenue, at 10 AM, after which a wreath of flowers was be deposited in their memory. For more information visit their website.

Collective Action "A light for mine" in tribute to victims of the "13 de Marzo"tugboat and all Cubans who've lost their lives at sea at dusk on July 12, 2014

Estado de Sats and For Another Cuba called for an international campaign. The collective action “A light for mine” was a tribute to the victims of the tugboat “13 de Marzo” and all Cubans who have lost their lives at sea, trying to escape a suffocating reality during 54 years.  It is also a tribute to the Cuban family and a call to hope and spiritual rebuilding of our nation. On July 12 on the eve of the anniversary, at  dusk Cubans, everywhere in the world, lit candles in front of the ocean , bridges, lakes, rivers, on their doors, balconies or in the privacy of their homes (in this case for the repression that doubles in Cuba on this date).

For more information on the collective action visit their campaign page  or Por Otra Cuba

20th Anniversary of the abominable sinking of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat off the coast of Havana on July 13, 1994

Our Lady of Charity  (La Ermita) held a Special mass and vigil for the victims of the July 13, 1994 "13 de Marzo" massacre and their families and for Liberty and Justice to soon reach Cuba. After the Mass united with our brothers in the Island and in different parts of the world we held a candlelight vigil in their memory in the Sea wall of Our Lady of Charity. For more information on the Mass and vigil visit their facebook page or official website.

Human Rights Foundation and Cuban Democratic Directorate call for Twenty Minutes of Silence for Twenty Years of Impunity


The Cuban Democratic Directorate (CDD) and the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), called for a symbolic nonviolent protest action in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the murder of 37 Cuban passengers of the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat, who on July 13, 1994 were killed by agents of the Cuban government for trying to escape the island. The demonstration took place on July 10 at 12:00 noon outside the headquarters of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cuba to the United Nations (UN), located at No. 315 Lexington Avenue in New York City. Human rights activists, members of international civil society and Cuban exiles gathered in front of the embassy in order to hold twenty minutes of silence for each of the twenty years that this crime has remained unpunished.

For more information on the silent vigil visit the official announcement in English or Spanish.

  
CUBA: Young Leaders Group, Center for a Free Cuba and the Cuban Democratic Directorate Call for Twenty Minutes of Silence for Twenty Years of Impunity

Human rights and civil society organizations called for a symbolic nonviolent protest action in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the murder of 37 Cuban passengers of the “13 de Marzo” Tugboat, who on July 13, 1994 were killed by agents of the Cuban government for trying to escape the island. The demonstration took place on July 10 at 12:00 noon outside of the Cuban Interests Section located on 2630 16th Street NW in Washington DC. Human rights activists, members of international civil society and activists gathered in front of the Interests Section in order to hold twenty minutes of silence for each of the twenty years that this crime has remained unpunished.