On Friday January 28^th, TERRA was visited by author Lilly Prellezo and Jose Basulto, president of Brothers to the Rescue. Brothers to the Rescue is a foundation that dropped down necessary supplies, such as water and radios, to thousands of balseros, Spanish for Cubans coming to Florida on makeshift rafts, so that they could make it to shore.

However, on February 24, 1996, two of the three Brothers to the Rescue aircrafts in the air that day were shot down by MIG-29s,  Russian fighter jets used at the time, sent from Cuba. “The government response was minimal,” said Basulto, “and the shootdown definitely could have been prevented.”

Basulto also blames the U.S. government for allowing the shootdown to occur. “We had two spies in Brothers to the Rescue that did not show up on the day of the shootdown. That tells me that they knew what was going to happen and that they chose not to send the interceptors.”

Author Lilly Prellezo also agrees that the government is to blame in her novel Seagull One that recounts the story of Brothers to the Rescue and Jose Basulto, who was in the third plane that was not shot down.

Basulto also recalls events such as dropping leaflets over Havana, Cuba containing motivational quotes from famous Cuban poets and politicians such as Jose Mart and some quotes from the Cuban constitution. Seagull One can be purchased at Barnes and Noble or any other major retail outlet.