Trouble in Miami

A little before midnight on July 14, a dozen Cubans with knives in their hands and black stockings on their heads surprised three sentries near the town of Nuevitas. They disarmed the watchmen and boarded the Gaviota 16, a boat owned by a mapping agency. Then, in the dark hours of early morning, they raced for open waters. Their destination was Miami—and freedom.

They didn’t make it, but the Bush administration is probably wishing they had. That’s because what happened next inspired Miami congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican and normally a strong Bush ally, to launch a blistering attack: “This act of infamy in coordination with the Cuban tyranny is a condemnable monstrosity.”

A little before midnight on July 14, a dozen Cubans with knives in their hands and black stockings on their heads surprised three sentries near the town of Nuevitas. They disarmed the watchmen and boarded the Gaviota 16, a boat owned by a mapping agency. Then, in the dark hours of early morning, they raced for open waters. Their destination was Miami—and freedom.

They didn’t make it, but the Bush administration is probably wishing they had. That’s because what happened next inspired Miami congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican and normally a strong Bush ally, to launch a blistering attack: “This act of infamy in coordination with the Cuban tyranny is a condemnable monstrosity.”

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.