Castro's death could spark refugee crisis Fri Jun 2, 2:28 PM ET
MIAMI (AFP) - As Cuban President Fidel Castro nears his 80th birthday, US authorities are reportedly planning for the fallout in Florida from his eventual death fear a dangerous mass migration of Cubans.
Florida is home to the some 800,000 Cubans and Cuban-Americans, most of whom have been eagerly awaiting the end to Castro's communist rule for decades.
The University of Miami, with the American Red Cross, nonprofit groups and local, state and federal agencies, have completed a comprehensive plan for the days after Castro's death, The Miami Herald said.
"The greatest fear among the planning organizations is another mass migration along the lines of the Mariel boatlift in 1980 or the 1994 Balsero crisis. Much of the report is dedicated to planning for such an event, such as assigning a county official as the point person and assigning specific tasks to deal with migrants," it said.
The University of Miami's Cuba Transition Project drafted the report after two years of meetings among agencies including the US Agency for International Development, the Department of Homeland Security, the Red Cross, Miami-Dade's Office of Emergency Management and Miami-Dade Public Schools.
The government is prepared for the worst, Carlos Castillo, assistant Miami-Dade fire chief who chaired the subcommittee to coordinate local response, told the paper.
"The Coast Guard will take whatever action is necessary to protect the coast," he said. "As far as the airport and port of Miami, the county and federal governments will take whatever steps necessary to ensure the safety of the people in South Florida. If necessary, the federal government has the ability to close the airports and seaports."
During the 1980 Mariel boatlift, about 120,000 Cuban migrants arrived in Miami over a six-month period.
Cuban exiles triggered the mass migration by taking to the Florida Straits to bring over relatives and friends.
Cuba blames the US policy of granting immediate asylum to Cubans who reach US shores for encouraging many Cubans' risky illegal crossings of the shark-infested Florida Straits.
The United States sends home Cubans picked up at sea, but continues to grant asylum to any Cuban who touches US soil.
Castro, in power since 1959, is due to turn 80 in August |
