Jose Manuel Garcia is associate professor of Spanish and Latin American studies at Florida Southern College. He wrote the script for the international award-winning documentary Voices From Mariel and is the author of La literatura cubanoamericana y su imagen. Voices from Mariel: Oral Histories of the 1980 Cuban Boatlift (University Press of Florida) is his latest book. Between April and September 1980, more than 125,000 Cuban refugees fled their homeland, seeking freedom from Fidel Castro’s dictatorship. They departed in boats from the port of Mariel and braved the dangerous 90-mile journey across the Straits of Florida. Told in the words of the immigrants themselves, the stories in Voices from Mariel offer an up-close view of this international crisis, the largest overseas mass migration in Latin American history. Based on the award-winning documentary of the same name, Voices from Mariel features the experiences of marielitos from all walks of life. These are stories of disappointed dreams, love for family and country, and hope for a better future. This book illuminates a powerful moment in history that will continue to be felt in Cuba and the United States for generations to come.
