Queuing up for risky voyage to freedom

VARADERO - Even while officials have been debating the future of Elian Gonzalez, the boy found floating off Fort Lauderdale after his boat capsized, there has been no letup in the exodus of Cubans seeking wealth in America.

Last year alone, some 1300 people fled the island clandestinely, clutching a few possessions in plastic shoppping bags, and waded into political exile. But although over 60 would-be refugees - including Elian's mother, Elisabet Brotons - drowned in the attempt, hundreds of others keep trying to sneak across the shark-infested straits.

They meet at the island's mangrove-choked northern shore and bundle their families into small motorboats - admittedly a step up from the crude rafts lashed together by refugees in the early 90s. The powerful Gulf Stream current off Cardenas can carry them 144km north until they hit Florida.

Owners of swift cigarette boats, which also are the mode of transport preferred by Miami drug traffickers, can charge a cool $US8000 ($16,000) per passenger. But the penalties are harsh and, if caught, smugglers of human cargo can languish for years inside Cuban prisons.

The boatbuilder who sold a 5m aluminum craft to Lazaro Munero, the hustler boyfriend of Elian's mother, was hauled off to jail soon after the overloaded boat foundered and 11 people drowned. He is still awaiting trial.

Despite the risk, most locals prefer to use small time operators like Munero, because of the lower rates. The one couple who survived the trip alongside Elian told immigration officers that they paid $US1000 for their illegal voyage. Nobody openly touts these trips, but the unemployed men who loiter on the traffic islands between Varadero resort and Cardenas are resourceful. For cash up front, they usually can find out when the next boat will set off from one of three strategic points along the swampy shoreline near Cardenas.

"When you're ready to leave, you're not afraid of the sea," Carmen Rodriguez Brotons, Elian's cousin, told the Miami Herald recently. "It's when you're in the middle of the ocean, feeling the large waves and seeing nothing around you at night or day, that you get scared."

She made the voyage almost two years ago after chipping in with her husband, Orlando, and six other relatives to buy a second-hand motorboat for $US500. Their makeshift liferaft was an inner tube from a big Russian tractor tyre, similar to the one Elian was lashed to by his mother. Both of Orlando's parents, his two brothers and a sister-in-law all perished last November on that doomed journey.

Most of the Cubans who attempt such perilous crossings are under 30. Over half of Cuba's 11 million citizens were born after the 1959 revolution, and they take for granted the free schooling and healthcare available under communism.

But, increasingly, young people chafe under the restrictions of the post-revolutionary lifestyle. Designer labels have such cachet among young Cubans that Tommy Hilfiger's signature now is emblazoned on more T-shirts in Havana than Che Guevara's.

One enterprising teenager at Varadero Beach, unable to afford the trendiest sports clothes, recently tattooed a Nike trademark on his chest. Rebels embrace capitalism not only to annoy their hardline parents, but in order to find their way out of a stagnating system.

Since the economy bottomed out in the early 1990s with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Government has encouraged foreign tourists to bring in hard currency. Cruise ships call at Havana Harbour and dollars fly freely. Youthful Cubans compare lifestyles with the visitors and many want out.

Varadero, the beach resort where Elian's parents both worked for dollar tips, is one of the biggest jumping off points. "You get a glimpse of the good life and you know you can do better outside," says Maria, a chambermaid in Paradiso Hotel. "It's just a matter of time."

Average salaries in Cuba are only $US8 per month, with top professionals earning $US30. The Government hands out rations books for basic foodstuffs, but families with no access to dollars are hard-pressed to scrimp through the month. Maria's modest tips means she makes more in a day than the average worker does in 30.

Many Cubans must rely on friends and relatives who send money from abroad back to their poor cousins. The estimated $US800 million that comes in from outside is vital to prop up the Cuban economy. Relatives frequently arrive with their suitcases stuffed with medicine, even simple aspirin, that is otherwise unavailable in Cuba. Society is now three tier: the communist party elite, those with access to dollars, and the workers.

"We must give our youth a future," argues Raimundo Garcia, the founder of the Christian Centre of Reflection and Dialogue in Cardenas. "That is the wake up call that we've been given. After the return of Elian we can not slack off and simply return to our homes."

With two million foreign tourists expected this year, Cuba has invested heavily in beach and scuba-diving resorts suitable for holiday packages. New joint ventures have brought dozens of construction cranes to the Varadero seafront, where timeshare apartments and beachside tower blocks are sprouting up. The Government is cracking down hard on prostitution, the traditional means to get cash quick.

After the foreign tourists are done swimming with dolphins or windsurfing by day, a flotilla of economic exiles pays out even more to set out after dark.

- INDEPENDENT