Cuba Archive - Case 8597

Case ID: 8597

Title: N/A

First name: Camila

Last name: Martínez Rodríguez

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: 4

Gender: Female

Date of Birth: N/A

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Month:5 / Year:1997

Citizenship: N/A

Last known address: N/A

Last known city: Vedado

Last known province-TOD: La Habana

Last known province current: La Habana

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: N/A

Location of death - city: N/A

Location of death province - at TOD: N/A

Location of death province - current: N/A

Location of death - country: Cuba

Trial held?: N/A

Docket Number: N/A

Sentence details: N/A

Arrest or detention at time of death: N/A

Date of arrest: N/A

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: N/A

How long imprisoned/detained: N/A

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: N/A

Associated Event: N/A

Case description:

4 year-old Camila Martínez Rodríguez, her 13 year-old step-sister Adrianet Tamayo Rodríguez, and 26 year-old, Leonín Ojeda Rivas, died from dehydration, hunger, and exposure. Two unidentified men from their group disappeared attempting to find help in a primitive raft. They were part of a 14-person group that left Isabela de Sagua, on the northern coast of Cuba, on a twenty-foot sail boat on April 29, 1997. The group included the girls parents and three sisters, ages 11, 6. The entire family had been approved by the U.S. government to immigrate to the United States, but they could not afford to pay the steep exit fees required by the Cuban government ($2,800) and made the desperate attempt to leave Cuba and reach the United States. Two days later, the group sought shelter from a storm in a tiny and barren rock key in the Bahamas. Their ship was lost and they were marooned with no food and water for 14 days.  Some drank sea water in desperation. The girls and the 26 year-old captain of the vessel, Leonín Ojeda, died during the course of the ordeal. The survivors were spotted by pilots from Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based exile group that routinely searched the Florida Straits for rafters. They alerted the Royal Bahamian Navy, who rescued the group.
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Camila Martínez Rodríguez, de 4 años, su hermanastra  Adrianet Tamayo Rodríguez. de 13 y Leonín Ojeda Rivas, de 26, fallecieron por deshidratación, hambre y exposición. Dos hombres no identificados de su grupo desaparecieron tratando de encontrar ayuda en una balsa primitiva. Formaban parte de un grupo de 14 personas que partió de Isabela de Sagua, en la costa norte de Cuba, en un velero de seis metros el 29 de abril de 1997. El grupo incluía a los padres de las niñas y tres hermanas, de 11 y 6 años. Toda la familia había sido aprobada por el gobierno de Estados Unidos para emigrar a Estados Unidos, pero no podían pagar las elevadas tarifas de salida requeridas por el gobierno cubano ($ 2.800) e hicieron el intento desesperado de salir de Cuba y llegar a Estados Unidos. Dos días después, el grupo buscó refugio de una tormenta en un pequeño y árido cayo rocoso en las Bahamas. Su barco se perdió y quedaron abandonados sin comida ni agua durante 14 días. Algunos bebieron agua de mar desesperados. Las niñas y el capitán de la embarcación de 26 años, Leonín Ojeda, murieron mientras esperaban que ;os encintraran. Los supervivientes fueron avistados por pilotos de Brothers to the Rescue, un grupo de exiliados con sede en Miami que buscaba habitualmente a balseros en el Estrecho de Florida. Alertaron a la Marina Real de las Bahamas, que rescató al grupo.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Reported: Highly likely / Highly reliable source(s)

Cause of Death: - Exit attempt: dehydration/drowning/etc.

Occupations: - N/A

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: - Brother/Sister in Case 8602: Adrianet Tamayo Rodríguez

Victim Type: - Attempting exit

Affiliations: N/A

Other Victims Same Event: - Case 8602: Adrianet Tamayo Rodríguez - Case 8601: Leonín Ojeda Rivas

Case Record - Camila Martínez Rodríguez