Sinking of the tugboat 13 de Marzo: A horrific crime that remains unpunished 32 years later

María Victoria García Suárez passed away on the afternoon of January 4, 2024, in an intensive care unit at the University of Miami Hospital. She had been admitted 15 days earlier to undergo a cardiovascular procedure. During an attempt to implant a pacemaker, bleeding occurred. She was in an induced coma and on artificial respiration until her suffering heart stopped beating. She was 58 years old and left this world without receiving justice.

In the early morning of July 13, 1994 María Victoria lost her 10-year-old son, Juan Mario Gutiérrez García, along with 13 other family members, victims of one of the most horrendous crimes committed by the Castro-communist regime. There were 72 people attempting to escape from oppression and misery, and 41 died: 31 adults and 10 children, ranging in age from 6 months to 12 years. Only 31 survived.

The boy Juan Mario boarded the tugboat 13 de marzo, an old wooden vessel with over 100 years of service, without understanding where they were going. His mother had told him they were going out for a ride. No one could have imagined the terrible fate that awaited them due to the wickedness of a tyrant bent on preventing boat departures and terrorizing the many Cubans willing to risk their lives trying to escape the communist hell.

Three much more modern vessels, with metallic hulls, larger in size than the 13 de Marzo and equipped with powerful pumps and fire-fighting cannons – the tugboats “Polargos 2, 3, and 5” – rammed into the old wooden boat and began to unleash powerful jets of water against 72 defenseless people. Baby Hellen Martínez, just six months old, was the youngest, while Manuel Cayol, at 56 years old, was the oldest. Two “Griffing” patrol boats from the border guard forces were also involved in the brutal action.

As the attack began with jets of water, María Victoria covered Juan Mario with her own body, continuously turning to absorb the blows and prevent them from hitting the child directly. The water struck her with tremendous force, while her son prayed and asked her what was happening. When one of the attacking vessels mounted the 13 de Marzo and breached it, the child screamed that they were surrendering.

But the attack continued as if the assailants imagined they were battling a terrible sea monster rather than an old tugboat with unarmed people aboard. As the ship began to sink, María Victoria placed the child on her body and asked him to wrap his legs around her waist, to hold onto her neck, to take a breath, and not to let go. Juan Mario obeyed, and his last audible response was, "Yes, mom."

Mother and son, like many others, were swallowed by the sea. María Victoria managed to return to the surface with Juan Mario still clinging to her, but he had swallowed a lot of water and was barely responding anymore. As she desperately tried to reach a floating box where other survivors were holding on, several people clung to her legs and body in a bid to save themselves.

In the midst of that collective struggle to avoid drowning, the boy slipped from his mother's arms and vanished into the depths. María Victoria cried for help, but no one could do anything to save the child. She survived, but never recovered her son's body. Before dying in January 2024, she requested that her ashes be scattered at sea, precisely 7 miles off the coast of Cuba, at the spot where her Juan Mario and 13 other family members had died.

María Victoria spent much of the 30 years following that horrible crime recounting what had happened that fateful morning. And each time she told the story, her wounded heart experienced a new tremor that brought it closer to its final collapse.

He died without receiving justice on earth. But I am sure that God, in His immense goodness, welcomed him into His holy dwelling, and he waits patiently for the end of the regime that has caused so much pain, suffering, and tears. In the meantime, the main perpetrator of that heinous crime awaits in hell with his diabolical brother, who is also responsible for many crimes.