After Fidel: Secret Hopes Of Cuban Refugees

Overnight Gabriel and Fanny became "balseros" or rafters, the generation of Cuban refugees who risked their lives crossing shark-infested waters to escape from what they considered an intolerable life in Cuba. They left in 1994 but didn't make it to South Florida until 1996 - 18 months later. By the time they arrived, a radical shift in immigration policy between the United States and Cuba had taken place. That August, President Bill Clinton, concerned with South Florida's ability to absorb the new immigrants, announced the reversal of a 35-year-old policy welcoming Cubans unconditionally. No longer would the Coast Guard invite Cubans aboard its boats to deliver them safely in the arms of Miami relatives.

Gabriel: The sunlight woke us up. It had been an unusually quiet evening, and for the first time in many days we had been able to enjoy a restful sleep. It was our fourth day sailing from Cuba to the U.S., but anxiety and worry had not allowed us to sleep through an entire evening.

As I did several times a day, I began taking inventory of everything in the small sailboat: Almost half a gallon of water - a major concern; six pieces of stale bread, wrapped in nylon to keep them dry; a recipient containing a coconut dessert I had bought at premium price, which we were saving as a last resort because we knew it would make us thirsty; a small bag of powder milk, almost empty; half an avocado; six plums, and two mangoes left of the ten we managed to get just before leaving the island.

We worked in an abandoned house at the edge of Guayabal, a dusty hamlet about an hour's drive from Havana, Cuba.