Evening star., 1960-12-04
BY JEAN SPRAIN WILSON
Associated Press stan Writer

@1ooSSAeSSN ASoS SSeA "AASCA
& MIAMI.-Almost any night q
small craft slips through the dark
ness into the Florida Straits while
its Cuban occupants pray that an
American ship will pick them up.
- Occasionally a desperate defec-
tor orders a Cuban airliner to set
down on Florida soil so that he
and his armed co-plotters can find
asylum.
. All day, any day at Miami's In
ternational Airport hundreds Of
anxious Latins press their noses
against the United States customs
window searching for relatives
among the Cuban tourists" on the
other side Of the glass.
: Somehow more than 1000 refu-
gees each week make their ways
across the 90 miles Of sea that
separate Castro's land from
America.
Thus today an alarmed South
Florida finds itself an unwilling
land sometimes unwilling) bastion
OF freedom for more than 10000
defectors from Castro's Cuba.
There is no letup in sight.
Situated at the gateway to
South America, this city of Miami
in Dade County is used to being
the Casablanca of the Caribbean
FOR hot-blooded, revolution mind
ed Latins.
Yet the Cuban problem this
community faces today is so diff
ferent and has ramifications so
potentially explosive that the
towns people despair at handling
It themselves.
DrilIers ond Dreomers
J, Compassionately concerned for
the jobless, homeless. hungry Gu
oans among them, worried over
possible international repercus-
sions from the "drillers and
dreamers," disturbed at the back
street violence, and frankly anx-
ious about the effect these sud-
denly impoverished people may
have on their own unemployed
citizens, Miami has at last ap-
pealed for Federal help.
The government, after a study
OF the situation, answered on Fri
day. President Eisenhower ordered
81 million released to aid Cuban
refugees under a provision Of the
Mutual Security Act. Mr.. Eisen-
hover acted after a survey by his
representative, Tracy Voorhees,.
Mr.. Voorhees, said he did not
expect all the money would be
used. He said he thought a large
part Of the aid should come from
private groups.
The Cuban influx has increased
with each month Of Castro's re-
gime. The refugees have moved
in with friends and relatives along
the two main arteries, Miami ave-
nue. and Flagler street, which
criss-cross the center Of town. At
first the resident Cubans were
able to absorb their disillusioned
countrymen. Now the refugee
population in Miami has reached
the exploding point.
With a young Cuban girl intro
ducing me, this reporter made a
spot check Of crowded housing in
the area. In one noisy three-room
cottage were II hungry, frightened
LatinsS two children and a blind,
deaf old man among them. A
former engineer, now a sand truck
operator was supporting them
with his $37 so a week.
In a small apartment down the
street 10 children, all under 4
years old, bounced gleefully over
the cots which took up all but a
tiny aisleway in the living room.
Seven were house guests, waiting
for Cuban parents to claim them
someday.
The immigration Office here, di-
rected by Ed Ahrens, admittedly
turns its head to violations be-
cause "the Cubans have to eat"
In Havana the United States EN-
bassy issues 400 visitors visas