Viking_Yearbook_95

Cuban ' Refugees T hey headed north on almost anything that would float, including rafts made of the flimsiest materials: oil drums, inner tubes, and wooden planks. They were Cuba's boat people — tens of thousands of people trying to get to the United States to escape the poverty and hunger of their increasingly isolated island Communist nation. Many did not make it because of storms, sinkings or the U.S. Coast Guard, which intercepted more than 1,000 craft in one day in early September. But the flood of migrants receded shortly after the United States agreed to admit at least 20,000 a year. In return, Cuban leader Fidel Castro promised to halt the flight of boat people. Police gave rafters a few days to get their crafts off Havana's beaches and made sure no new ones were drawn up. Courtesy ofAssociated Press