Following a hunger strike by the mothers of Cubans detained at the Krome
detention center, the leader of the Democracia Movement began a hunger strike
of his own Wednesday asking for the return of a boat seized by the federal
government.

Carrying inspirational books about Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin
Luther King Jr., Democracy Movement leader Ramon Saul Sanchez began the
strike at the northwest corner of West Flagler Street and First Avenue near the
Claude Pepper Federal Building.

``I'm willing to give up my life, not for the boat, but for the principle of it,'' Sanchez
said. ``You can buy a boat anywhere, but you cannot buy a right.'' He said he is
appealing to the President of the United States, by whose direct order the boat
was seized.

The 35-foot boat ``Human Rights'' was seized by the U.S. Coast Guard some 25
miles south of Key West in international waters Dec. 10. The boat is being held
by U.S. Customs, which sent a letter to Sanchez refusing to return the vessel
because ``no assurances were provided by you that you did not intend to enter
Cuban waters.''

Although members of the group say they were heading to Cuba to hand out
copies of the Declaration of Universal Human Rights on the 50th anniversary of
the document's signing, the group declines to tell the Coast Guard where it is
going because it believes the question violates civil rights.

Sanchez now has 30 days to post a $2,800 bond and request a court hearing so
a judge can decide the boat's fate. If he does not post the bond, the government
can sell the boat at an auction. Sanchez has not decided yet what he'll do.