By Ma deline Baró Diaz
and Vanessa Bauzá staff Writers

MIAMI · Eight Cubans who tried to come to the United States on board a 1959 Buick last week were repatriated Tuesday, crushing the dreams of their families, who hoped they could start new lives in the United States.

The two couples and their four children were among a group of 98 Cubans who were taken to Bahia de Cabañas, Cuba, Tuesday morning by the U.S. Coast Guard. A family of three that was also on the Buick remained aboard a Coast Guard cutter, while a federal judge in Miami weighed whether to intervene at the request of attorneys advocating on their behalf.

U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno ruled that the Coast Guard cannot repatriate Luis Grass Rodríguez, his wife Isora Hernández Hernández and their son. Angel Luis, until 5 p.m. today . The judge said he hoped to have a decision by then.

Relatives identified those who were repatriated as Marcial Basanta López, his wife Mirlena López, and their two children, Leydis and Felipe. Also returned to Cuba were Rafael Diaz Rey, his wife Nivia Valdez and their sons David and Pablo.

Basanta, along with the Grass-Hernández family, had tried to come to the United States in July aboard a 1951 Chevrolet truck re-engineered as a boat. He also was repatriated then and the Chevy was sunk as a hazard to navigation, as was the Buick on this trip.

The repatriated families had not returned to their homes as of Tuesday evening. All week long, word has been trickling in to relatives in Cuba from phone calls and media reports from Miami. Despite hearing of the repatriations, relatives on the island were remaining skeptical until they saw their loved ones in the flesh.

"It's a crime for them to be turned around," said Rafael Diaz's aunt, Julia Sara Rey, in Havana. "They've been through an odyssey. If they let one stay, they should let them all stay."

Basanta's cousin, Kiriat López, of Lake Worth, was upset about the repatriation of his relatives. López said last week that, after the trip in the Chevrolet, his cousin's home was searched and he was under increased scrutiny by Cuban state security.

"I think it is an injustice, what they've done," López said. "That's all I can say now."

Rafael Diaz's father, Pedro Diaz Martínez, said he had heard his son was on board the Buick but hadn't been able to confirm that. He said his son also retooled a Buick a few years ago and tried to escape Cuba, but was stopped by the Cuban Coast Guard.

Relatives said Rafael Diaz's wife had won the visa lottery, but because she was a doctor, she would have to wait years for permission from the Cuban government to leave the island. Pedro Diaz said he came to Miami to live in January and that made his son even more anxious to come to the United States, despite the fact that he was scheduled for an interview in May at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

"The situation over there is very bad," Pedro Diaz said.

Lourdes Grass, sister of Luis Grass, had hoped everyone would be allowed to stay.

"Marcial and Luis are like brothers," she said. "They both went to the same school, studied tae kwon do together. They've always gotten along. My brother must feel
very badly about this."

Under an immigration policy established in the wake of the 1994 Cuban rafter crisis, U.S. immigration agents interview Cubans who are found at sea on board Coast
Guard cutters. If the agents determine that the Cubans do not have a credible fear of persecution if returned to the island, they are repatriated. Attorneys for Grass and
his family argued in court on Monday that about 98 percent of Cubans intercepted at sea are sent back.

The repatriation of the "autonauts" is the latest in a string of incidents in which the U.S. government has been strict in its enforcement of the "wet foot/dry foot" policy,
upsetting many Cuban exiles.

Other recent cases include:

In January, the Coast Guard found 15 Cubans on a homemade vessel, suffering from dehydration and hypothermia. The Cubans were treated and fourteen of them
were repatriated. One was sent to Guantánamo Bay for processing.

In December, the Coast Guard repatriated the apparent sole survivor of an ill-fated attempt to flee. The Coast Guard said the man was "traumatized" and told them he
had gotten on a homemade boat with 10 other Cubans, but rough weather destroyed the boat. No other survivors were found.

In July, 12 people who stole a Cuban government-owned boat from the north central port of Nuevitas, Cuba before the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted them were
repatriated. The decision angered Cuban exiles who feared the 12 would face the same fate as a trio of boat hijackers who were executed on the island months earlier.
Six of the repatriated Cubans were given sentences ranging from seven to 10 years in prison, while the other six were set free.

While many in the Cuban community have said they would have liked those on board the Buick to enter the United States, many also think that the car-boaters are being
used as pawns by the Cuban government or that allowing them into the United States would be unfair when so many other Cubans are repatriated.

Ninoska Pérez Castellón, a Cuban exile activist and radio talk show host, said many of those currently fleeing Cuba are looking for better economic opportunities in the
United States, rather than political asylum.

Arturo Cobo, a Key West exile activist who unsuccessfully tried to get the Buick for a Cuban exile museum, said President Bush could lose Cuban-American support in
the upcoming presidential election if his administration keeps sending fleeing Cubans back.

"This is an insult to Cuban exiles," Cobo said. "I feel very betrayed by this administration. I don't see important changes for the democratization of my homeland."

Madeline Baró Diaz can be reached at mbaro@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5007.

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