Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
A family that tried to escape Cuba by sea in a modified 1959 Buick was allowed to request political asylum this week. There were 11 refugees in the watertight car, which was powered by a propeller turned by its motor. Eight of them were returned to Havana when the Coast Guard stopped the craft 45 miles from Florida, on Feb. 3. The Grass family, which tried to flee last year in a floating 1951 Chevy truck, was sent to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay after making a convincing case that they would be persecuted if they returned home. “We are very happy,” said Eduardo Perez Grass, the couple’s nephew in Havana. “At least they won’t be sent back here.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Political cartoons for December 12Cartoons Friday's political cartoons include presidential piracy, emissions capping, and the Argentina bailout
-
The Week Unwrapped: what’s scuppering Bulgaria’s Euro dream?Podcast Plus has Syria changed, a year on from its revolution? And why are humans (mostly) monogamous?
-
Will there be peace before Christmas in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Discussions over the weekend could see a unified set of proposals from EU, UK and US to present to Moscow
