Ryan Mills
As reports of President Fidel Castro’s grave condition continue to leak out of Cuba, authorities in South Florida are keeping a close watch on the island nation and are preparing for every possible scenario that could occur after his death.
Authorities from the U.S. Coast Guard said there is no indication there will be a mass exodus from Cuba after Castro’s death is announced, but added that they are prepared if one were to occur.
“We do have plans if there is a mass exodus from any Caribbean nation,” said Jennifer Johnson, a Coast Guard spokeswoman in Miami. “That could be Haiti, the Dominican Republic. It could be Cuba, but the plan is not Cuba-centric.”
The plan, dubbed “Operation Vigilant Sentry,” was developed by the Department of Homeland Security after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Coast Guard spokeswoman Tasha Tully said.
Though officials would not reveal details of the plan, they did say it requires contributions from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
The plan includes instructions on how to handle interdictions at sea, landings in South Florida, the processing of refugees, providing medical care, community relations, border control and detention, Coast Guard officials said.
The plan got its first test in 2004 when authorities anticipated a mass migration from Haiti when the government of former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide collapsed.
The plan was last tested in 2006 during a table-top exercise in Broward County.
“In March we’re going to be testing it again,” Tully said. “Each time we test it we learn where we can improve.”
Lt. David Johnson, of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Operations Group, said Castro’s death will have an effect on South Florida. The Collier Sheriff’s Office is integrated into the national plan, he said, but also has developed local plans specific to Collier County.
The Sheriff’s Office has had periodic meetings to discuss its mass migration plans, and those meetings have become more frequent recently, Johnson said. But even if a mass migration were to occur, most likely Monroe and Miami-Dade counties would receive the brunt of the impact, he said.
“Our response will be directly proportional to the degree that we are affected,” he said. “Our contingency ranges from absolutely nothing at all happening, business as usual, to mass migrations that, according to DHS, could involve thousands. To what degree we will be affected in Collier County remains to be seen.”
In the case of a mass migration, state and local agencies would act as support for federal agencies, said Jorge Pino, a spokesman with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“We would do anything and everything needed to try to help our federal partners and our state partners,” Pino said. “We do have emergency plans for any catastrophe that could occur in the state of Florida. ... We’re just a spoke in the big wheel.”
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office also has a contingency plan in place in case of a mass migration, but officials declined to elaborate on what that plan entails or how the Lee County Sheriff’s Office would work with other agencies, Deputy Angelo Vaughn said in an e-mail.
The Naples police department is in the process of putting the final touches on its own mass migration plan, police Chief Victor Morales said. The Coast Guard agreed Friday to provide training to Naples police officers in handling a mass migration event, Morales said.
If Cubans flee in droves when Castro dies, those intercepted at sea likely will wind up at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, where nearly 400 men captured in the war on terror are held. Military officials say they have begun planning for a possible mass exodus, scouting potential sites to detain migrants in tents while keeping them far from the prisoners suspected of links to al-Qaida or the Taliban.
Castro, 80, hasn’t been seen in public since he temporarily handed over power to his brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, and underwent emergency intestinal surgery in July. A Spanish newspaper reported Tuesday that the Cuban leader faces a “very grave prognosis.”
In past periods of turmoil, thousands of Cubans have taken to the sea. The Coast Guard has tried to intercept them before they reach land. Under the so-called wet-foot, dry-foot policy, Cubans intercepted at sea are generally sent back while those who reach U.S. soil are allowed to stay.
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As reports of President Fidel Castro’s grave condition continue to leak out of Cuba, authorities in South Florida are keeping a close watch on the island nation and are preparing for every possible scenario that could occur after his death.
Authorities from the U.S. Coast Guard said there is no indication there will be a mass exodus from Cuba after Castro’s death is announced, but added that they are prepared if one were to occur.
“We do have plans if there is a mass exodus from any Caribbean nation,” said Jennifer Johnson, a Coast Guard spokeswoman in Miami. “That could be Haiti, the Dominican Republic. It could be Cuba, but the plan is not Cuba-centric.”
The plan, dubbed “Operation Vigilant Sentry,” was developed by the Department of Homeland Security after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Coast Guard spokeswoman Tasha Tully said.
Though officials would not reveal details of the plan, they did say it requires contributions from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
The plan includes instructions on how to handle interdictions at sea, landings in South Florida, the processing of refugees, providing medical care, community relations, border control and detention, Coast Guard officials said.
The plan got its first test in 2004 when authorities anticipated a mass migration from Haiti when the government of former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide collapsed.
The plan was last tested in 2006 during a table-top exercise in Broward County.
“In March we’re going to be testing it again,” Tully said. “Each time we test it we learn where we can improve.”
Lt. David Johnson, of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Operations Group, said Castro’s death will have an effect on South Florida. The Collier Sheriff’s Office is integrated into the national plan, he said, but also has developed local plans specific to Collier County.
The Sheriff’s Office has had periodic meetings to discuss its mass migration plans, and those meetings have become more frequent recently, Johnson said. But even if a mass migration were to occur, most likely Monroe and Miami-Dade counties would receive the brunt of the impact, he said.
“Our response will be directly proportional to the degree that we are affected,” he said. “Our contingency ranges from absolutely nothing at all happening, business as usual, to mass migrations that, according to DHS, could involve thousands. To what degree we will be affected in Collier County remains to be seen.”
In the case of a mass migration, state and local agencies would act as support for federal agencies, said Jorge Pino, a spokesman with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“We would do anything and everything needed to try to help our federal partners and our state partners,” Pino said. “We do have emergency plans for any catastrophe that could occur in the state of Florida. ... We’re just a spoke in the big wheel.”
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office also has a contingency plan in place in case of a mass migration, but officials declined to elaborate on what that plan entails or how the Lee County Sheriff’s Office would work with other agencies, Deputy Angelo Vaughn said in an e-mail.
The Naples police department is in the process of putting the final touches on its own mass migration plan, police Chief Victor Morales said. The Coast Guard agreed Friday to provide training to Naples police officers in handling a mass migration event, Morales said.
If Cubans flee in droves when Castro dies, those intercepted at sea likely will wind up at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, where nearly 400 men captured in the war on terror are held. Military officials say they have begun planning for a possible mass exodus, scouting potential sites to detain migrants in tents while keeping them far from the prisoners suspected of links to al-Qaida or the Taliban.
Castro, 80, hasn’t been seen in public since he temporarily handed over power to his brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, and underwent emergency intestinal surgery in July. A Spanish newspaper reported Tuesday that the Cuban leader faces a “very grave prognosis.”
In past periods of turmoil, thousands of Cubans have taken to the sea. The Coast Guard has tried to intercept them before they reach land. Under the so-called wet-foot, dry-foot policy, Cubans intercepted at sea are generally sent back while those who reach U.S. soil are allowed to stay.
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