KEY WEST: Cuban exiles said on Sunday they set off fireworks from a flotilla off Havana to commemorate an incident 20 years ago in which 37 people died fleeing the island in a tugboat.
The exiles, who returned early Sunday to Key West, Florida, said they could see the lights of the Cuban capital when they set off the barrage of 85 skyrockets at about 9:30 pm Saturday (0130 GMT).
"We can say mission accomplished," said Ramon Saul Sanchez, head of the Miami-based Democracy Movement, which organized the action.
"We are satisfied and proud to say we were part of this group and of having been able to take this message of the lights of liberty to the coast of Cuba and remember the 20th anniversary of the sinking of the tugboat '13 de Marzo,'" he said.
The sinking on July 13, 1994, occurred after the tugboat, with 68 people aboard, was intercepted by four Cuban vessels as it fled the communist-ruled island.
Survivors said the intercepting vessels attacked the tug with jets of water and that one vessel rammed it, causing it to sink.
The Cuban government says the incident, which claimed the lives of 37 people, including 10 children, was an accident.
"The act of paying tribute to the tugboat victims, we did well, despite a storm that overtook us," said Jorge Garcia, who lost 14 relatives in the tragedy.
Garcia was among 25 people aboard three boats that made the voyage from Key West on Saturday, one of more than 25 similar protest actions carried out by the exile group since 1995, which Havana regularly denounces as "provocations."
It was not immediately known if the firework display was visible from Havana.
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