After 15 Hours at Sea, a Cuban Refugee’s Dream Is Deferred
- U.S. Coast Guard stops Leonardo Herrera’s escape -- this time
- A wooden boat filled with visions of rice, chicken and freedom
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More than 15 hours into Leonardo Herrera’s second attempt to reach the U.S., he was convinced he’d seen Florida.
The 23-year-old mechanic from Boyeros, Cuba, had been focused on the rolling waves that rocked and lifted the wooden boat transporting him, 11 other Cubans and all their hopes for a future free of repression and deprivation. Dolphins tracked alongside. And when Herrera raised his eyes, he believed he saw the dreamed-of coastline, though it was many miles away. His companions erupted in joy. Men hugged. Women cried.