250 Protest Cubans’ Downing of Planes

About 250 people, mostly Cuban Americans, held a candlelight protest Sunday night to denounce Cuba’s recent downing of two U.S. civilian planes, killing four men.

The demonstrators condemned Cuba’s action, prayed for the victims and their families and called for the downfall of Fidel Castro’s Communist regime so that democracy might sweep through their homeland.

“The Cuban American is outraged at what happened. It was coldblooded murder,” said Santiago Martin, one of the organizers of the event. “We’re here to show solidarity.”

According to U.S. authorities, the two planes were flying through international airspace when they were shot down Feb. 24 by Cuban fighter pilots. Cuban officials have maintained that the planes, flown by a group opposed to the Cuban government, violated the country’s airspace.

After the attack, President Clinton announced a series of retaliatory measures, ranging from restricting the movement of Cuban officials in the United States to halting all charter flights from the United States to Cuba.

Some of the protesters said Clinton should have taken a more aggressive stance against Castro.

“Castro is a tyrant who needs to be put down,” said Gerardo Arenado of Mission Viejo, whose father was once a political prisoner in Cuba.

Arenado’s sister, Mercedes Arenado, agreed: “We need to take care of a monster like Fidel Castro. The people here don’t understand what the people in Cuba are going through. Something needs to be done.”

The protest, which lasted for about half an hour, was held outside the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Santa Ana. Many of the demonstrators held candles and waved U.S. and Cuban flags as they listened to several of their expatriated countrymen call for an end to Castro’s leadership of Cuba.

“We have a lot of faith that Cuba is going to be free again someday,” said Alberto Soto of Fullerton. “We have faith.”