In the summer of 2023, a U.S. Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Century aircraft patrols the waters north of Cuba amidst an unprecedented exodus of Cubans attempting to reach the U.S. Despite the scrapping of protective laws by the U.S. government, nearly one million Cubans have undertaken perilous journeys on homemade rafts. Journalist Ricardo Quintana recounts a poignant moment when they discovered a boat with 23 people. As media outlets like Radio Television Marti suspend operations due to government actions against them, Quintana remains committed to reporting on Cuba's oppressive regime and its impact on information access.
I watched the plane's monitors with a lump in my throat, recalls Quintana, 65. The image has been immortally etched in my memory, like a silent shadow that never fades.
Quintana refuses to believe that this is a dismantling of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), which oversees the work of Radio Television Marti. He believes that if the Cuban regime still exists, there's no reason for Radio TV Marti not to.
The genesis is still in force in a totalitarian system that censors, restricts access to information, and punishes those who try to broadcast news independently.
The largest exodus of all time, which by that point had reached nearly one million Cubans in two years, continues despite the U.S. government's scrapping of protective laws.
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