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Later, refugees wolfed down fried chicken, ham and Cokes at the local Chamber of Commerce office while awaiting buses for the four-hour ride into Miami. They talked of the mounting hardships of life under Castro. Vegetables and cereals are virtually nonexistent; the monthly rice ration is 5 Ibs. per person. Russian shoes cost $90 and polo shirts $40, with such clothing considered luxury items in a society where the average salary is $100 a month."They are taking milk away from seven-year-olds," said Ramon Leiva, 33, a Havana Linotypist. Others spoke of greater surveillance, fewer freedoms and just plain boredom. "The repression has increased," noted Landa. "They ask for your ID card everywhere. They're always watching you. People are afraid to talk. There's no spirit."
Why had Castro suddenly permitted the massive sealift? Among other things, he has managed to rid his country of hundreds of dissidents and slightly relieved the demand for food and other goods in an already strapped economy. For much these same reasons he opened Camarioca, 65 miles east of Havana, as a refugee port in October 1965 and invited Cuban Americans to fetch relatives and friends. By the time he closed the port, about a month later, some 3,000 Cubans had exited by that route. That operation paved the way for the "freedom flights," sponsored by Washington, that eventually brought 270,000 Cuban refugees to the U.S.
Presumably, Castro also decided that the evacuation would turn world attention away from the Peruvian embassy fiasco and focus the spotlight instead on Washington's scramble to cope with the flood of refugees. In this, Castro appeared to be successful. "He sure is clever at making his problem our problem," said one White House aide.
For the moment, Washington is genuinely flummoxed about how to stop the flow of refugees. Though the State Department has hinted that some may be deported, especially if the total number of boat people exceeds the 3,500 that the U.S. initially agreed to take from the Peruvian embassy, such a move is considered unlikely. Said Reston: "We are in mid-stride here dealing with something the size of which we don't know." It was a frank admission that Castro's quick-stepping refugee policy caught the Carter Administration somewhat flatfooted.