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However, as additional survivors of the swamped boat were interviewed by authorities, a more likely story was pieced together. The Haitians admitted that after leaving their country, they landed in eastern Cuba. The refugees stayed there nearly a month repairing their boat, then set sail once again for the U.S., but quickly were washed up on a tiny island just off the Cuban coast. La Nativité— returned to Cuba; finally, around Oct. 23, the Cubans supplied the Haitians with food, water and cooking utensils, and then towed La Nativité out to sea — and toward Florida. The catastrophe off Hillsboro Beach occurred just three weeks after the Reagan Administration had begun a policy of intercepting boatloads of refugees headed for the U.S. and escorting them back to Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The U.S. considers Haitians to be fleeing their country to escape poverty, not repression, and thus not eligible for admission as political refugees.
The day before the breakup of La Nativité, the Coast Guard cutter Chase made its first catch: a leaky 35-ft. sailboat filled with 57 refugees. But Coast Guard officials admit that they can do little to avert a tragedy like La Nativité. "We can't blanket the coast with cutters," said one Coast Guard officer. "Unless you happen to be in the right place at the right time, things like this are going to happen ."