Finding Mañana

Outside the Peruvian embassy, Napoleón Vilaboa contemplated the situation. The return of so many exiles from Miami would be difficult for the Castro regime. Cubans with advanced degrees lived like paupers compared to their exiled relatives, even those with much humbler professions. It had become increasingly clear to the general population that the revolution had not delivered on its promises. Vilaboa, who lived in Miami, was in Cuba to participate in talks about the crisis at the Peruvian embassy. He’d grown up in Cuba and had even fought in Castro’s army, but he fled to the United States when it became clear to him that Castro’s regime would never guarantee Cubans freedom or even be able to meet their basic needs. After visiting the embassy, Vilaboa hatched a plan to get many Cubans to the United States. So far, the American government had shown a marked lack of interest in the crisis, but Vilaboa knew that the Cuban community in Miami was paying attention. They were hopeful that the situation would spiral out of control and that the US would even invade Cuba, ending the Castro regime forever. Vilaboa thought that perhaps Cubans in Miami could be persuaded to charter boats to go pick up their relatives, as well as the embassy refugees, and bring them back to Florida.