Associated Press

MIAMI -- The Coast Guard said it was deterring copycat efforts when it sunk a 1951 Chevrolet pickup that was converted into a boat by a
group of Cubans hoping to sail to the United States.

Rear Adm. Harvey Johnson, the Coast Guard's district commander, told The Herald's Editorial Board on Wednesday that if the pickup was
salvaged from ocean waters instead of sunk, it would have been a ``monument'' that encouraged similar efforts by other migrants.

The truck was "an encouragement for people in Cuba to think they need to make it to the United States,'' Johnson said. "It's very dangerous to come across in a rubber raft.''

The truck-raft carrying 12 Cuban migrants was kept afloat by empty 55-gallon drums attached to the bottom as pontoons. A propeller attached to the drive shaft of the vintage pickup was pushing it along at about 8 mph.

The group got to within 40 miles of Florida before being spotted by U.S. Customs officials last month. The Coast Guard then returned the group to Cuba and sent
the truck to the bottom of the sea with machine gun fire.

Joe Garcia, executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation, said the decision to sink the boat was ``pathetic.''

"What that Chevy would have represented was the struggle for freedom,'' Garcia said. ``Not some kind of incentive for people to leave.''

The nine men, two women and baby were at sea for 31 hours before the Customs plane spotted them. Under U.S. immigration policies, Cubans who reach U.S.
shores are generally allowed to stay while those caught at sea are usually returned.

The group aboard the truck have since applied to emigrate legally to the United States, but have not yet learned if their applications to the U.S. Interests Section
were approved.

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