Cuban Woman Ships Self in Crate to U.S.

Cuban Woman Ships Self in Crate to U.S.

By Associated Press

August 26, 2004, 2:53 PM EDT

MIAMI -- A Cuban woman tucked herself inside a wooden crate the size of a small filing cabinet and had herself shipped from the Bahamas to Miami aboard a cargo plane.

The woman, whose name was not released, will be allowed to stay in the United States. A cargo crew found her curled up inside the crate after unloading it late Tuesday at the Miami airport.

"Certainly she's lucky to be alive," said Zach Mann, spokesman for Customs and Border Protection.

Under the so-called wet-foot, dry-foot policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are usually allowed to stay, while those who are picked up at sea are sent home. Federal officials released no information on how the woman got from Cuba to the Bahamas.

The 180-mile route is flown by a third-party contractor for the delivery service DHL, which said it was investigating.

The flight lasted only an hour, so the woman, described as being in her early 20s, would have been exposed to the cold for only a short period, Mann said.

Earlier this year, a homesick man who shipped himself in a wooden cargo crate from New York to Dallas was fined $1,500 and sentenced to four months of house arrest for being a stowaway.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-brf-crated-woman,0,1621665.story

guess it beats the usual raft made of sticks and inner tubes that i am accustomed to seeing drifting helplessly in the shark-infested gulf stream. these starving cubans will do almost anything to vacate their island 'paradise'.

deputylinda said:

guess it beats the usual raft made of sticks and inner tubes that i am accustomed to seeing drifting helplessly in the shark-infested gulf stream. these starving cubans will do almost anything to vacate their island 'paradise'.

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The pickup truck is still my favorite.

I see a whole lot more of this happening in the future once word spreads that she made it and she gets to stay. It would just be a lot easier for us to get rid of Fidel.

Now that she made it she deserves to be an instant celebrity. To go on the morning news shows, do talk shows, maybe Letterman or the Tonight show. To collect big sums for interviews, maybe even get a book deal. To have her 15 min. of fame. :liar: (just kidding)

Jeana (DP) said:

I see a whole lot more of this happening in the future once word spreads that she made it and she gets to stay. It would just be a lot easier for us to get rid of Fidel.

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This will definitely motivate the Cuban people even more to try these dangerous stunts to get to the United States. The rule is if they make it to land they are allowed to stay.

i loved the seagoing pickup truck too! anyone here ever been to miami? it is cuba north. as to fidel, the CIA tried to take him out once. the exiles in miami have waited a lifetime to return, stubbornly fidel refused to die in time for them. miami cubans very hardworking people for the most part, who have thrived and prospered. further south, in the keys i have seen "wet-foot, dry-foot" in action more than once....boatloads of rafters being chased by customs until they "win" by touching land in the rocks lining tavernier waters. and other areas up and down the keys. 'brothers to the rescue' is a group of pilots who go out constantly looking for rafters in danger on the stream. if you miss the keys you are in deep doo-doo. remember elian gonzalez' mom died at sea? a long time ago coast guard would pass out flyers to boaters heading out to dive or fish, not to give aid or water. well i just wanted them to arrest me for giving some dehydrated sunburned rafter a drink! just could not assist them to shore. the law of the sea supersedes ever-changing immigration laws.

You know I have been to cuba 5 or 6 times... it is a beautiful island with first class hotels and gorgeous beaches. The people are very friendly I have toured several the major cities like Veradero, Havana, Santiago & Holguin.

I don't know much about the politics but they are sure nice to the tourists - one of the friendliest places I've been compared to other islands where the people are indifferent.

it is a beautiful island...which is why the exiles want to return. but the employees at those gorgeous hotels are going hungry, don't have life necessities, not even soap. the employers crack the whip, but tourists never see that. the hotel workers are extremely exploited. but it is the only way they can survive. the people willing to risk their entire families' lives on the gulf stream speak volumes. pure desperation.