The “thorough investigation” of the Ministry of the Interior to determine responsibilities for the sinking of a boat in Bahía Honda on October 27 has concluded without finding anyone else to blame than the presumed organizers of the outing, Hector Meizoso –who lost three relatives– mainly.
The authorities reported on television on Tuesday how the incident occurred and spent more than an hour detailing the, in these cases, the obvious lack of condition of the boat, without expressing a single hint of self-criticism or regretting the painful event, according to the official version, a “practically inevitable collision, because the boat had already got in the way of [el camino de la patrulla de los Guardafronteras] from a sharp turn”.
Víctor Álvarez Valle, an agency specialist, described the event, in which seven people died, including a two-year-old girl, as “a human trafficking operation organized from the United States by sanctioned persons” in Cuba. Two of the alleged organizers were identified, although only one is in custody, since the other died.
“A human trafficking operation organized from the United States by sanctioned persons” in Cuba
The detainee is Luis Manuel Borges Álvarez, whose records were recited in Cuba and who went into exile in 2015, while the dead man is Omar Reyes Valdés, convicted in Pinar del Río for human trafficking and emigrated after being released in 2016. But according to the authorities, the person most responsible for organizing the departure from the US is Héctor Meizoso Fabelo, convicted in Cuba for human trafficking and currently in exile, who accused the Border Guard Troops of murder in an interview with 14ymedio.
In addition, the authorities point to another of the deceased, Yeraldi García Meizoso, as an organizer in Cuba and coast guide, the same as Michel Arronte Sánchez, who is detained. Another of the defendants, in this case for an illegal attempt to leave – it is presumed – is Héctor Eduardo Meizoso Chiong, who was traveling with his wife, his sister and his cousin. The young man was one of those who accused the authorities in a video and now he retracts.
“I said things that were not true, we were not clear about what had happened, we said that it was a murder and it was not like that,” he stated this Tuesday, in a sudden change of opinion that he attributed to the initial ignorance of what had happened.
He was not the only one who appeared before the cameras blaming Meizoso Fabelo, who was also accused by Borges Álvarez, the surviving boatman. “About a year ago I bought a boat that had an internal motor that melted and I had contact with Héctor Meizoso, who told me that he could take that boat and modify it,” he said, adding that the purpose was to take the United States to his entire family and five other people to whom he allegedly charged $10,000.
Also Félix Alexander Hernández Martínez, who was traveling on the boat and claimed to have left after receiving notice that he could reach the US for $12,000. All of them supported, in a testimony that raised many doubts among those who followed him, the version of the authorities.
Also Félix Alexander Hernández Martínez, who was traveling on the boat and claimed to have left after receiving a notice that for $12,000 he could reach the United States.
According to the official reconstruction of the events, the boat had 26 people on board and 13 15-gallon fuel tanks, although it was initially designed for six passengers, four in the stern area and two in front. The boat, however, had been modified as occurs when this type of vehicle is used for illegal outings. As a consequence, the authorities said, stating the obvious, there were repercussions “on the safety of navigation in deep waters.”
“About 150 meters from the coast of Bahía Honda, on a dark night with a new moon and with swells of 0.5 to 1.5 meters in height, the border guards meet the boat. The boatman, seeing them, turns on the engines and violently turns in front of the boat”, describes the official version.
Continuing with the story, the authorities affirm that then the boat was illuminated as on all occasions, but its driver, shouting “the Griffin is coming!”, turned sharply to avoid the encounter, hitting the seabed. That noise was described by the rafters as an engine knock that was not such.
The border guards were placed, they say, to the left of the boat. “There were no invasive or aggressive actions against the offending boat, it was only accompanying,” stressed Álvarez Valle. However, the turn, accompanied by the weight and counterweight movement, caused the vessel to list to the left (port side). That is the area that according to the images shown is damaged.
“The blow was able to overcome the resistance of the fiberglass of the boat. The crack is about 15 cm. The area and size of the damage confirm that an attempt was made to avoid the impact and, although the border guard ship stopped its movement, It is a watery environment where speed is maintained. Had the impact occurred at an angle of 90 degrees, there would have been no crack because the damage would be total,” they stated as evidence. For its part, the officers’ boat shows loss of color, but there are no deformations.
The Ministry of Interior officials also added that the engine on the right was higher up and that the propellers show “parallel linear traces like scratches”, which they attribute to the excess load that, sailing in a low zone, raises the bow and causes the engine to rub against the seabed.
The propellers show “parallel linear traces like scratches”, which they attribute to the excess load that, sailing in a low area, raises the bow and causes the engine to rub against the seabed.
The experts detailed all the modifications that the boat underwent, including the increase from the original 310 horsepower to 550 thanks to the installation of two outboard motors to replace the previous one. They also talked about the modification of the deck, building another one below the waterline, which, carried out without sufficient knowledge, weakens the structure.
Among the safety regulations violated was the lack of life jackets – there were 16 and none were children’s – fire extinguishers and lights, as well as the GPS turned off. All of this is so common in illegal water crossings that it is hard to believe that it surprises the specialized authorities who insisted, once again, that the border guards “were fulfilling their duty to avoid an incursion into the national territory.”
The program closed warning that the file to try the defendants is ongoing and that they have “the testimony of the boatman” that “corroborates everything that the expert investigation revealed.” A boatman well educated by the authorities, as can be deduced from the explanation he gave about his escape after the tragedy: “Like any human being who has committed a crime, violated the waters of a country or has been smuggling someone, I decided to swim and leave the place.”
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