Fifty years ago on December 12, 1972, 65 Haitians arrived on the shores of Pompano Beach, about 40 miles north of Miami, in a leaking, wooden boat — escaping the violence and dictatorship of the Duvalier Regime.
Yvon Bruno, the boat’s captain, told the New York Times back in 1972 why he had made the voyage.
“I was in a cell holding eight men, and one night, three of the others were taken out and were never seen again,” Bruno said. “We decided it was time to leave.”
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