By Vanessa Bauza
Havana Bureau

HAVANA · Three Cuban families' hopes of puttering to South Florida in a green, 1959 propeller-powered Buick were dashed Wednesday
when the tail-finned, floating car was sunk, just like their first ingeniously engineered amphibious vessel, a 1951 Chevrolet truck rigged to a
pontoon of 55-gallon drums, an exile source said.

The U.S. Coast Guard declined to comment on the fates of the 11 migrants who were intercepted aboard the sealed Buick 10 miles off Marathon on Tuesday. But
Cuban exile sources speculated they likely will be repatriated, just as some had been during the Chevy crossing last July.

"I'm hearing it from a government source," said Cuban American National Foundation executive director Joe Garcia. "They would probably be repatriated ... but
who knows?"

Cuban-American activist Arturo Cobo, of Key West, said he was trying to get his hands on the Buick-boat for a museum of exile memorabilia he is planning. On
Wednesday, however, Cobo learned the Coast Guard was going to sink the vessel.

In the migrants' rundown Havana neighborhood of Diezmero, some relatives sat alone in the pews of a Pentecostal church on Wednesday, pitting the power of their
prayers against political will.

"I have faith that God will bring a miracle, that they can stay there [in the United States]," said Daisy Lopez, 54, mother of Marcial Basante, 35, who left with his
wife, Mirlena Lopez, 29, and the couple's two children, Leydis, 12, and Felipe, 8.

It was Basante's second attempt at crossing the 90-mile Florida Straits aboard a vintage vessel. He was joined by a friend, Luis Gras, 35, who also attempted the
trip in July with his wife, Isora Hernandez, 26, and their 4-year-old son, Angel. Before attempting their first trip in the Chevy, Basante and Gras had made a living
using the truck to haul construction materials and merchandise. Since the truck was sunk, making ends meet had gotten tougher.

"He is young, he has a wife and two kids and wants to get ahead," said Basante's stepfather, Adan de la Torre.

Sisters of Luis Gras hoped the migrants' efforts would be rewarded, even if they did not meet the "dry foot" requirements that allow Cuban migrants to stay in the
United States if they reach the shore.

"I know the laws; their feet were wet. But I still have hope," said Lourdes Gras Rodriguez, 44, adding that she feared her brother might be penalized in Cuba for
trying to make the illegal trip twice.

Luis Gras and Basante had both dropped off immigration forms at the U.S. Interests Section in December and were told to return for interviews in March and April,
relatives said. But the men were doubtful that their requests to start a new life in South Florida would be approved. After all, most of the migrants who made the
headline-grabbing trip in July had already received letters from the Refugee Program of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana stating they did not "meet the necessary
requirements" for a visa.

"Maybe he didn't wait because he felt unsure, maybe he thought there would be a rupture in the migratory accords," Lourdes Gras said of her brother. "They didn't
tell anyone they were planning this."

But in fact, Gras and Basante had worked out plans to retrofit the Buick for three or four months along with another friend known only by his first name, Rafael, who
owned the car. He left with his wife, Nivia, and their two young sons.

"I'm very upset my daughter didn't tell me anything about this," said Isora Hernandez, 63, Gras' mother-in-law.

"What I want is for the U.S. government to accept them now that they've risked themselves twice."

On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, sent letters to President Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the U.S. Coast Guard asking
that the migrants be paroled into the United States.

Staff Writer Madeline Baro Diaz contributed to this report.

Vanessa Bauzá can be reached at vmbauza1@yahoo.com

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