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| Caribbean |
| Cubans try ’driving’ ’59 Buick to Florida |
| 2004-02-04 |
| Hat tip: Drudge. Edited for brevity. Two Cubans who tried to sail to Florida in a truck converted to a pontoon boat last year are making another attempt, this time piloting a seagoing 1950s-era Buick with nine other people, including five children, relatives said. Marciel Basanta Lopez and Luis Gras Rodriguez, who were sent back to Cuba in July after they failed to reach Florida in a converted 1951 Chevy pickup, were allegedly at the helm of the newest vehicle-boat conversion. Under U.S. immigration policy, Cubans who reach U.S. shores are allowed to stay while those caught at sea are usually returned. The Miami Herald said the 1959 Buick was nearly halfway to Key West by Tuesday evening. Key West is 90 miles from Havana, but it was not immediately clear where on Cuba the group had set out to sea. Relatives in Cuba told Basanta’s cousin, Kiriat Lopez, who lives in Lake Worth, that they knew the men were planning a second escape attempt. "My cousin isn’t crazy. He wants to be free," Lopez told the newspaper. "That’s how crazy he is." Godspeed, gentlemen! Remember to signal when you pass the Coast Guard cutters (and please dim your headlights)! |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #11 Let 'em in. Make them the new hosts on Junkyard Wars, they earned it. |
| Posted by: Nero 2004-2-4 10:51:51 PM |
| #10 Nooo ... FOX5 (NYC area) just announced that they were picked up halfway across the ocean ... |
| Posted by: Lu Baihu 2004-2-4 10:23:58 PM |
| #9 I read the Canadian Press report link off of yahoo.com. The Canadian Press decribes the attempt at freedon as a "stunt". How F'n typical. |
| Posted by: Dan Canaveral 2004-2-4 9:23:38 PM |
| #8 They should have trailed several extra pontoons full of fuel and tried for Mexico. Its a longer trip, but its the surest route into the US - as long as you forgo hitchhiking in the trailer of a large semi carrying 60 or so other undocumented soon to be amnestied Americans. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-2-4 8:08:49 PM |
| #7 Ah well... there goes my inspiration for escaping from Naples with a 365 GTB 4A Daytona Ogolomato. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-2-4 5:48:34 PM |
| #6 I understand they didn't make it. :( |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-2-4 5:45:03 PM |
| #5 there ar good and bad to this story. those cars are bad polluters and should be taken off the rode. but if it sinks some dolfins could be hurt as it goes to the bottom of the sea. |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2004-2-4 4:20:32 PM |
| #4 JFM... Could you see them trying to make the 90-mile crossing in a Trabant? I wouldn't try to cross a busy intersection in one! Besides, there are ten of them in the Buick. You couldn't tie that many people TO a Trabant! |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-2-4 3:22:04 PM |
| #3 Arrival of the Fitest. Have faith and don't panic when you see S. Beach. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-2-4 3:20:56 PM |
| #2 Why didn't he try to convert a Soviet or East-German car? |
| Posted by: JFM 2004-2-4 2:41:44 PM |
| #1 Hopefully we'll allow them to stay this time. And have the sense to run them as a team in "Junkyard Wars." |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2004-2-4 2:16:05 PM |