Adrift: The Cuban Raft People; Author: Fernandez, Alfredo L.; Author: Translator Rascon, Susan G.; Paperback

Author: Fernandez, Alfredo L.; Author: Translator Rascon, Susan G.
Paperback
Arte Publico Press
ISBN: 1558853006

In Adrift: The Cuban Raft People, Alfredo Fernandez surveys the turbulence produced an entire hemisphere away by the collapse of the USSR -- and concludes that, ironically, the greatest collateral damage has been inflicted not on the regime of Fidel Castro but rather upon the men, women, and children seeking to flee his dictatorship. For although U.S. immigration policy changed soon after, Castro's grip on the Cuban people has remained unyielding, even as extraordinary economic crises have wracked the island. As a result, countless refugees seeking freedom have disappeared without atrace into the churning waters of the Florida Straits. And many of those rescued in international waters by U.S. naval vessels have simply been turned back over to the Cuban authorities.