Cuba: You Can't Eat Doctrine

Jose Alberto Potuombo is sitting in La Atarraya, the cafe he manages across the street from the great bay, attempting to hear Fidel Castro on his Korean- made boom box. But there are distractions. A crowd is forming on the seawall across the way. "Ven aqui! Ven, mira!" yell the little children, and people are indeed coming and looking. Now there is a crowd of 70, staring down into the water. They laugh, they cheer. Some drivers stop, others honk and yell, "Balseros! Balseros! A Miami! A Miami!" (Rafters! To Miami!) Potuombo scans the scene sourly. "Let the bastards go," he...