A boat headed for the Florida coast carrying 32 Cubans, including seven women and two children, was sunk by Cuba's Coast Guard, according to the Miami Herald.
While speaking to reporters in a telephone conversation from Matanzas, Cuba, Masiel González Castellano said her husband is still missing after he fell off the boat due to the Cuban Coast Guard's repeated ramming.
"We were screaming and crying for help as the boat was sinking. But they ignored us. Instead, they continued charging against our boat. Some people dove in the water and others stayed aboard as the boat sank," said Castellano. "They knew there were children aboard, but continued to charge against us. They didn't care."
Castellano said they boarded the boat with a captain "from Miami" around 4 a.m. Monday and were hit Tuesday morning. Most of the survivors were rescued by the coast guard and were locked up by the State Security in Versailles, Matanzas. Women and children were released on Thursday night, but the men still remain in custody, Castellano said.
People on the boat told Ramón Saúl Sánchez, the president of Democracy Movement, the group who organized communications between Castellano and reporters, that the incident occurred in international waters about 22 miles from Cuban territory.
"This is not the way to deal with people who are just trying to flee a brutal tyranny," he said, adding that if they "were located 22 miles from Cuba when the incident occurred, they acted within international jurisdiction," and could have violated international law.
Sánchez told the Herald that he contacted the U.S. Coast Guard and was told they had received a call about a sunken boat and reported the incident to the Cuban Coast Guard.
An uncle of one of the passengers also contacted the U.S. Coast Guard, but was told that since the incident occurred in Cuba, it was outside of their jurisdiction, Breitbart reported.
