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Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Cuban boy killed on voyage to U.S. buried in Miami

Posted on Tue, Oct. 18, 2005

IMMIGRATION
Cuban boy killed on voyage to U.S. buried in Miami
A 6-year-old Cuban boy who died last week when the alleged smuggler boat
in which he was riding capsized in the Florida Straits was mourned in Miami.
BY OSCAR CORRAL
ocorral@herald.com

Propped up next to his small coffin, the photograph of 6-year-old Julian
Villasuso captured him in a proud moment, smiling widely as he wore a
black bow tie.

It was how his family wanted him remembered: a dapper, happy boy who
loved to play with a blue toy dog the size of a mouse.

Julian drowned early Thursday when a Florida-registered speedboat
allegedly smuggling his family and others from Cuba flipped over in the
Florida Straits while fleeing the U.S. Coast Guard. His mother and
father, Maizy Hurtado, 32, and Julian Villasuso, 49, survived and were
released over the weekend into the custody of South Florida relatives.

On Monday, they wept over their only son's coffin as Father Sergio
Carrillo put his arms around them and tried to comfort them and several
dozen others during a funeral Mass at St. John Bosco Church in Little
Havana.

''This is a high price to pay for people wanting freedom,'' said former
Miami Commissioner Wifredo ''Willy'' Gort, whose son is married to the
boy's aunt. ``The family is taking it very hard. It's especially hard to
see a child die. It's a loss that can never be replaced.''

Julian was buried at Woodlawn Park South Cemetery in West Miami-Dade
County, Gort said.

TWO SUSPECTS

Two men suspected of captaining the boat were brought into Key West
Sunday night from a Coast Guard cutter off the Keys, Coast Guard
spokesman Chris O'Neil said late Monday. The men were among at least six
alleged smugglers caught on several boats at sea late last week.

It's not clear in whose custody the men remained Monday. Also uncertain:
the fate of the other 25 Cuban migrants rescued from the capsized boat.
They were believed to still be aboard the Coast Guard cutter on Monday.

Another passenger was brought into the Keys on Friday after showing
signs of appendicitis.

Federal prosecutors have not disclosed whether they intend to charge the
alleged smugglers.

It is also unclear whether the survivors on the cutter, who could be
material witnesses, will be sent back to Cuba or brought to Florida.

One Cuban exile activist called for the Coast Guard to release the
entire video of the chase.

''We would like for the Coast Guard to release the whole video, not just
the last 30 seconds [released to the media], to see what really
happened,'' said exile activist Armando Gutierrez.

O'Neil said the tape was in the hands of the U.S. attorney's office and
it was up to that office to release it. But he said the tape showed the
Coast Guard did nothing wrong when it intercepted the smuggler vessel
about 50 miles south of Key West.

''There is nothing on the tape that shows the Coast Guard in any way
endangering the lives of those on board the vessel,'' O'Neil said. ``The
only ones who put those people's lives in jeopardy were the people at
the controls of that boat.''

Gutierrez, who became known as a spokesman for the family of Elián
González more than five years ago, said he helped pay the funeral bill
for Julian because the tragedy touched a nerve.

''It's another case where a person died, this time a little boy,'' said
Gutierrez, who said he was not acting as a family spokesman but as a
concerned exile.

``These people are dangerous people that charge money to bring people
from Cuba. They have no scruples and they don't care about anybody's
life. It's only to make money.''

Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's National Assembly, on Monday blamed
U.S. policy for the boy's death, saying the United States' ''wet foot,
dry foot'' policy encouraged dangerous human smuggling. The policy
generally allows Cubans who reach U.S. shores to remain here. Most of
those intercepted at sea are repatriated.

'On one side, they say, `If you arrive, we'll admit you.' But you have
to arrive, elude the Coast Guard, violate American laws, risk your
life,'' Alarcon said.

CALL FOR REVIEW

On Friday, U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, R-Miami, criticized the policy
and said it should be reviewed by the Bush administration.

He and other exile leaders have stepped up their criticism of the policy
in recent weeks, especially after authorities detained 10 Cuban migrants
following a September struggle off Haulover Beach in Northeast
Miami-Dade that was broadcast live on television. At least six of the
migrants were sent back to Cuba and four were sent to the U.S. Navy base
at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

''We never threw someone back over the Berlin Wall, or sent them back to
North Korea when they escaped,'' Díaz-Balart said.

Herald staff writer Jennifer Babson and Herald wire services contributed
to this report.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/12927566.htm

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