This past Thursday on February 25th in 2026 the headlines, such as shown above, told about a heavily armed boat from Miami approaching Cuba. The Cuban Coast Guard had a shootout with the boat, killing four and wounding six men on the boat on the north-central Cuban coast near Santa Clara. Cubans on the island currently facing tightened regime change from Miami and Washington have historically faced other deadly attacks by boats from Miami, such as the one in Boca DE Sama!!
The sleepy Cuban fishing village, on the north-central coast in Holguin Province, was attacked by a boat from Miami on October 15th in 1971. As you can see on the map above, it was easy for that high-powered boat to enter the waterway to locate Boca De Sama directly from the sea south of Miami. Boca De Sama had 85 citizens all of whom depended mostly on fishing but also welcomed some tourist trade.
On October 15th in 1971 the citizens of Boca De Sami were not expecting an attack from a heavily armed Miami speedboat although they had been warned about what had happened to other such vulnerable villages.
On the night of October 15th in 1971 Nancy Pavon was then a 15-year-old girl sleeping beside her 13-year-old sister Angela in a cabin on the edge of Boca De Sama. The cabin was attacked by cannon fire from a Miami boat. Two family members were killed while both Nancy and Angela were gravely wounded.
The night-time cannon fire blew off much of Nancy Pavon's right leg.
The Cuban Coast Guard arrived and chased off the boat while trying to help the victims. Nancy Pavon was rushed to a hospital but she had lost so much blood she was not expected to live. But, somehow, she did live. The photo shown above of Nancy Pavon recuperating in the hospital was taken by her oldest sister Xiomara who was a soldier with the Coast Guard working that night just north of Boca De Sama when the two younger Pavon sisters were badly wounded.
The saga of Nancy Pavon's ordeal is well known to generations of Cubans in Cuba but rarely or never mentioned in Miami or the United States. But it was not only very real but also typical of the Cuban-US conflicts since 1959 in Revolutionary Cuba.
A brave survivor, Nancy Pavon in Cuba.
Yes, Nancy Pavon, missing a blown-off right leg, barely survived the Miami boat attack on the little fishing village of Boca De Sami on October 12th in 1971. It is remembered in Cuba as a part of the island's history. It should also be remembered as a part of Miami's and the USA's history.
.gif)
No comments:
Post a Comment