Nov 16, 2014

Rolando Pujol Rodriguez photographed the Cuban raft exodus in 1994, and 20 years later Enrique de la Osa took portraits of some of the people who made it to the United States. Cuba lifted restrictions on rafters in 1994, opening the flood gates for anyone who wanted to leave the communist-led island. Some 31,000 Cubans were detained at sea by U.S. ships that summer in the largest exodus since the 1980 Mariel boatlift, which brought 120,000 Cubans to Miami. The 1994 crisis led to a major shift in U.S.-Cuba policy and an accord under which Washington agreed to grant visas to 20,000 Cuban migrants a year. Rafters have kept coming in smaller numbers, though these days they make few political or media waves. Photos and text by Reuters.

: Former Cuban rafter Faustino Jose, 60, poses in his jewelry store in Miami on September 16, 2014. Faustino, who was an industrial engineer in Cuba, said he studied all of Thor Heyerdahl’s books about rafting before building his own and leaving Cuba in 1994. (REUTERS/Enrique de la Osa)

: People prepare to launch a makeshift boat into the Straits of Florida towards the U.S., on the last day of the 1994 Cuban raft exodus in Havana, September 13, 1994. (REUTERS/Rolando Pujol Rodriguez)

: Former Cuban rafter Sergio Lastres, 49, poses at an exhibition of his work based on the 1994 Cuban raft exodus in Miami on September 19, 2014. Lastres and his wife were among 15 migrants rescued when their raft filled with water in 1994. They were taken to Guantanamo Base where he painted his first work about rafters, he said. (REUTERS/Enrique de la Osa)

: A makeshift boat is lowered from a roof where it was constructed by would-be emigrants, as they take it by truck to launch into the Straits of Florida towards the U.S., on the last day of the 1994 Cuban Exodus in Havana on September 13, 1994. (REUTERS/Rolando Pujol Rodriguez )

: A man gestures as a makeshift boat is lowered from a roof where it was constructed by would-be emigrants, as they take it to launch into the Straits of Florida towards the U.S., on the last day of the 1994 Cuban Exodus in Havana on September 13, 1994. (REUTERS/Rolando Pujol Rodriguez)

: Would-be emigrants launch a makeshift boat into the Straits of Florida towards the U.S., on the last day of the 1994 Cuban Exodus in Havana on September 13, 1994. (REUTERS/Rolando Pujol Rodriguez)

: Would-be emigrants launch a makeshift boat into the Straits of Florida towards the U.S., on the last day of the 1994 Cuban Exodus in Havana, September 13, 1994. This summer marks the 20th anniversary of the 1994 Cuban Exodus. That summer, between Aug. 12 and Sept. 13, some 31,000 Cubans were detained at sea by U.S. ships. It was the largest exodus since the 1980 Mariel boatlift that brought 120,000 Cubans to Miami. Illegal departures by sea from Cuba are on the rise again, U.S. officials say, with more than 2,000 migrants picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard over the last 12 months. That is the highest rate in six years. Picture taken September 13, 1994.
|| PHOTO CREDIT: ROLANDO PUJOL RODRIGUEZ – REUTERS

: Would-be emigrants launch a makeshift boat into the Straits of Florida towards the U.S., on the last day of the 1994 Cuban Exodus in Havana on September 13, 1994. (
|| PHOTO CREDIT: ROLANDO PUJOL RODRIGUEZ) – REUTERS

: Would-be emigrants take a break while getting ready to lower their makeshift boat from a rooftop to a truck and launch it into the Straits of Florida towards the U.S., on the last day of the 1994 Cuban Exodus in Havana on September 13, 1994. (REUTERS/Rolando Pujol Rodriguez)

: Hundreds of Cubans watch as a makeshift boat is carried by would-be emigrants through the city to launch into the Straits of Florida towards the U.S., on the last day of the 1994 Cuban Exodus in Havana on September 13, 1994. (REUTERS/Rolando Pujol Rodriguez)

: Former Cuban rafter Hanoi Lopez, 39, poses in the yard where he works as mechanic at a public school bus company in Miami on September 15, 2014. (REUTERS/Enrique de la Osa)

: Former Cuban rafter Moraima Alfonso, 51, poses in the America TV dressing room where she works as a makeup artist in Miami, September 17, 2014. Alfonso said she spent 10 days at sea and was suffering hallucinations when she was picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1994. (REUTERS/Enrique de la Osa)

: Former Cuban rafter Jose Ramon Velazquez, 60, poses in one of his optical stores in Miami, September 22, 2014. Velazquez said he was a radiologist when he decided to climb into a makeshift boat with 22 other migrants in 1994. (REUTERS/Enrique de la Osa)

: Former Cuban rafter Tomas Curbelo, 51, poses in the headquarters of his electrical contracting company in Miami, September 18, 2014. Curbelo said he was jailed in Cuba for being a member of the opposition Democratic Solidarity Party. (REUTERS/Enrique de la Osa)

: Former Cuban rafter Carlos Hernandez, 45, poses in his workshop in Miami September 18, 2014. Hernandez said he was a youth baseball star in Cuba when he decided to climb into a catamaran in 1994 and head for the U.S. (REUTERS/Enrique de la Osa)

: Former Cuban rafter Pedro Brea, 50, poses while working as a municipal garbage collector in Miami, September 18, 2014. Brea said he spent three days clinging to a sinking raft in the middle of a storm when a U.S. Navy frigate picked him up from the sea in 1994. (REUTERS/Enrique de la Osa)

: Former Cuban rafter Luis Soler, 53, poses with the two Emmy awards he won as creative director at the Univision TV network, in Miami, September 23, 2014. Soler said he spent five days adrift with other migrants in 1994 before being picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard. (
|| PHOTO CREDIT: ENRIQUE DE LA OSA) – REUTERS

20 years later: Cuban raft exodus

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