The family of Evelio Calvo Capote, who starred along with 21 other relatives the theft of a boat from the port of Mariel with which he tried to reach the United States, his whereabouts are unknown. “They took him and put him in a white van and took him away,” Daniel Calvo saidresident in Miami, to the journalist Mario J. Pentón.
Evelio’s brother said that the stolen boat was intercepted in US waters. “A helicopter and six speedboats fell on them and they started throwing tear gas grenades at them,” which caused panic for the children who were in the group, he said. The coastguards jumped into the boat, pointed a gun at his brother and ordered him to stop.
Calvo Capote, like the rest of the group, asked for asylum at the time of being interviewed by a consul, who was also made aware of the danger they were running if they were returned to the island. The hope of being accepted was buried when they saw that Every day they changed boats. “They went through six,” said Daniel Calvo.
Daniel Calvo stressed that his brother told his mother that “he had no hope”, because the regime was asking for his return
On one of the boats, the detainees coincided with two Cubans who were allegedly “fugitives from justice,” explained Daniel, but while these people “were taken down in Guantánamo,” the rest, including Evelio, were transferred to the bay of Santiago de Cuba. The boat approached the dock, an official from the Ministry of the Interior got on board asking about Evelio Calvo and “they took him away under arrest.”
Daniel Calvo stressed that his brother told his mother that “he had no hope” because the regime was asking for the return of the man who worked for six years in the Border Guard as a ship mechanic.
The Coast Guard confirmed last Saturday the return to the Island of the 22 Cubans. That same day, Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart denounced on his social networks the disparity between the speech of US President Joe Biden, who pointed out that it was not “rational” to deport migrants from Cuba. “Clearly that was another blatant lie, as your Administration returned these 22 Cubans, knowing full well the repercussions they will suffer.”
Meanwhile, this Wednesday the US Coast Guard repatriated 55 Cubans aboard the ship william trump. The group is made up of rafters from four interceptions off the Florida coast.
Through a statement US maritime authorities urged rafters to avoid risking their lives on crude boats. “Hurricane season is not over and more storms are brewing,” warned Lt. Connor Ives. “Our air and surface crews are on patrol and on the lookout to save lives and prevent illegal and unsafe adventures.”
Since October 1, 2022, Coast Guard crews intercepted 66 Cubans.
On the other hand, the bodies of three Cuban rafters were found last Saturday near Key West, thus ending the search for the disappeared. The women are part of the group of 27 people who were trying to reach Florida in a boat that capsized last Wednesday near Stock Island, neighboring Key West.
In total, the bodies of four women and one man have been found, while nine people survived the shipwreck and are in the custody of the authorities. One of the Cubans rescued on Wednesday told the local television channel WPLG that they left the island last Friday and had been at sea for five days when the shipwreck occurred. He assured that they remained “two days and two nights near the coast of Cuba, and they were not rescued.
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