Members of the Cuban exile group Democracia movement will take to the Florida Straits on Friday to support dissidents and citizen protestors in the island nation.
The flotilla will leave from Key West and sail to a point north of Havana, loaded with $3,600 worth fireworks. They plan to blast them off after dark to show the people on the island their support of the pro-Democracy movement.
It is planned to coincide with a "pots and pan" protest, which was called by the internal opposition on the island. They claim they are being violently beaten by the government because of their protests.
"One of the reasons we are staging this flotilla is what appears to be state policy of beating up women," Ramon Saul Sanchez, the flotilla organizer, said in Spanish.
Organizers will work closely with the U.S. Coast Guard not to enter the Cuban territorial waters because they say that if they go beyond the 12-mile limit, they will be punished.
Meanwhile, Cuban state press claimed the U.S. government is authorizing the flotilla to provoke Raul Castro's government.
"The government of the United States is not encouraging this in any way. It is not taking away our rights, but it is not saying they are pleased with it," Sanchez said.
Sanchez added that the anti-Castro movement has moved beyond traditional dissidents, and "The people themselves, not affiliated with any political group, are beginning to claim the rights that the political groups have been claiming for so long."
The flotilla will leave Key West between 7 a.m. to 7:30 .am. and will arrive off of Havana mid-afternoon and begin the fireworks.
In the 1990s, the Democracia flotillas were a staple of the anti-Castro movement originating in the U.S. The nonviolent image of the group was tested by Cuban gunboats when in July 1995 a massive air and sea portest drew Cuban force to the 12-mile limit. At one point, a Democracia boat and Cuban Naval vessel collided.
