Memories of Mariel, from the inside

My friend Alex has posted a great account of what the Mariel crisis was like for a youg boy living in Cuba at Stuck on the Palmetto.

A man in a MININT uniform spoke on the microphone: "Two days ago a group of criminals, ungrateful for the opportunities this revolution has given them, broke into the Peruvian Embassy, killing a comrade guard. The Peruvian government has given asylum to those murderers and in response, our Commander in Chief has lifted the police protection to the embassy." The harangue ended with a phrase that would become the motto of those days: "¡Todo el que quiera irse, que se vaya!" (Everybody who wants to leave can leave!)

Read the whole thing. Click the link above.