Mission Libertad (17 page)

“Do you see anyone carrying a bag that could fit a small statue?' Antonio asked Jorge.

“I'm looking,” Jorge said staring into the crowd. “They would definitely bring it as a carry-on.”

Then the passengers from Panama arrived. Among them, Antonio and Jorge noticed the well-known Cuban defector Humberto Gutierrez, who had asked at the Panamanian embassy for political asylum several months earlier.

“Check out the blue bag,” Antonio said. “Maybe there is no red shirt.
Me
la
juego
. . . I bet that guy has the statue in that bag.”

“The priest said he would arrive at Terminal I,” Jorge insisted.

“I have a strong hunch he was trying to trick us,” Antonio said.

“I don't think so,” Jorge said.

“I don't trust priests; you know that,” Antonio said.

Meanwhile, Sonia had dropped Luisito and Tommy off at the airport while she went to look for parking.

Luisito ran toward the international flights. The airport was busy with holiday travelers. He was going against the flow of traffic and kept accidentally bumping into
people and their suitcases. Finally, he spotted the two men standing by a column speaking to each other.

He watched as Antonio and Jorge approached a man in his late thirties who was carrying a blue bag. Antonio and Jorge grabbed him by his arms. The other man was taken by surprise. They were speaking quickly and pointing at his bag.

Luisito wondered what was taking Tommy so long. Maybe security didn't believe him. What if Tommy didn't come back? Would he have to watch helplessly as the men took the statue with them?

Agent Stewart was positioned just outside the terminal and his men were inside, just a few feet from Antonio, Jorge, and Luisito.

Just then, Jorge grabbed the blue bag while Antonio held on to Gutierrez.

“Go now!” Agent Stewart communicated through his radio to the other agents' earpieces.

But out of nowhere, Luisito, who had no idea he was surrounded by FBI agents, ran and grabbed the blue bag right out of the unsuspecting Jorge's hands. Luisito imagined he had just stolen the basketball from his opponent and now he was running straight to the basket. He ran
and ran, pushing through the crowd and jumping over luggage.

Antonio and Jorge, stunned, paused for a split second before starting to run after Luisito. This was the opportunity the agents were waiting for, and they wrestled the men to the ground. The agents read the men their rights and handcuffed them.

“Run after the kid with the bag! Quick!” Stewart yelled, not realizing it was Luisito.

Stewart and the agents took off after Luisito.

Luisito was running as fast as he could straight toward security. Stewart caught up to him first.

“It's okay, everyone. He is fine,” he said, catching his breath and smiling.

“You okay, kid?” he asked.

“Don't let him grab my bag!” Luisito told the airport security guard. “This man is dangerous. He has been following me for some time.”

“Don't worry. I'm with the FBI. I have been protecting you from the Cuban agents,” Agent Stewart told Luisito.

“How can I believe you?” Luisito said. “What Cuban agents?”

“Long story,” said Agent Stewart, showing the boy and the security guard his badge.

At that moment, several other FBI agents arrived, and Luisito sighed with relief.

Meanwhile, Antonio and Jorge were being escorted into a police car.

“What will happen to them?” Luisito said.

“They will be charged with using a weapon in connection with a crime, conspiracy to kidnapping, and actually trying to kidnap Humberto Gutierrez,” said Stewart.

“Will they be sent back?” Luisito asked.

“We won't know until after a lengthy investigation,” Agent Stewart said.

“Where is my cousin Tommy?” Luisito said. “He was going to get security.”

“He must be in those offices over there being questioned,” Stewart said, smiling. “After all, this is a pretty unlikely story for the average person. I will have one of my guys get him.”

Then Luisito saw Sonia running in.

“Did I miss anything?” she said.

“Look,” Luisito said, pointing at the men in the police car.

When another officer approached to take the blue bag from Luisito, he realized he was still carrying the bag he had taken from Jorge. He looked questioningly at Agent Stewart, who nodded. Luisito gave the bag to the officer.

Agent Stewart, Gutierrez, and the other agent took the blue bag into a security office.

“Please stay back,” the officer said to Luisito when he tried to get in and see if the bag held the statue.

“Please, I must see if she arrived,” Luisito pleaded.

“Let him come in,” Agent Stewart said.

“Where's Tommy?” Sonia asked.

Luisito shrugged his shoulders. “Agent Stewart sent someone to find him,” he said.

Inside the room, the officer opened the bag and pulled out the statue of Our Lady of Charity. Her face was
porcelain and she had hair like a doll, with a lovely crown adorning her head and a crucifix in her hand. Her dress was a bit torn at the hemline, but she looked beautiful!

“I asked for political asylum at the Panamanian embassy and was waiting to leave the island. I finally got my permission,” Gutierrez explained. “I was given the assignment to bring the statue of our Lady to Miami. It was a great honor.”

“Did they give you any other instructions?” a young FBI agent asked.

“Yes, I was told that two nuns would approach me at the airport to pick up the image and deliver it to the Cuban priest from
La Ermita
, the shrine of Our Lady of Charity. I was trying to find the nuns,” Gutierrez said, “but then those two men came and took the bag, and then he”—Humberto pointed to Luisito— “took the bag from them!”

“Explain to me again, what is so important about this statue?” the young agent asked. “Why would anyone from Cuba want to take it from you?”

“Our Lady of Charity is as much a religious symbol as it is a strong cultural icon. She is the protector of Cuba,” Gutierrez explained. “I can only assume that the Cuban government is afraid that this statue coming from Cuba will unite the exile community in this country and bring about changes on the island.”

“Interesting,” the officer mused.

Agent Stewart signaled to Luisito and Sonia to step out of the office.

“We found Tommy,” he said. “He is on his way back from the security offices. I will have a police officer escort
you back to your house, and I will personally go with this man to deliver the statue to the priest.”

“I want to make sure it gets to Father René de Jesús” Luisito said, worried. He wasn't taking any chances.

“I understand,” Agent Stewart said. “I will call you from the priest's office and have him tell you when the statue arrives in his office.”

“Thank you,” Luisito said. “I really appreciate that.”

About a half-hour later, they arrived at Maricusa's house with a police officer escorting them. By now the whole family was worried sick. It had been three hours since they left for the grocery store.

“What happened?” José ran toward the kids and the officer.

“Thank God, you're safe!” Rosie said, limping toward them and hugging them.

The officer asked to come into the house, and they all took a seat to hear him explain. Luisito could see many of the neighbors on the block whispering. He knew that as soon as the policeman left they would have many visitors and that this story would be retold many times.

“They had my permission,” Rosie admitted. “I was going to take them myself but then I hurt my foot. I'm sorry, but I had to do my part for our Cuban people here, and I couldn't betray Luisito or Tía Maria Elena's trust.”

“There is always more to your grandmother than we can ever imagine!” Miguel said, smiling at Luisito.

The family had been invited to a special Mass in honor of the arrival of the statue of Our Lady of Charity
in Miami. The statue would be unveiled for all to see. Luisito and his family walked into a massive stadium for the Mass in honor of the feast day of Our Lady of Charity. The soft breeze eased the warm temperature. The bleachers at Miami Stadium were packed. All Luisito could hear were Spanish words being spoken with Cuban accents by those around him. He observed how a television reporter covering the event estimated the crowd at 30,000 people.

The Mass was celebrated in English by Archbishop Coleman Carroll and a group of other priests. In the entrance procession, the statue of Our Lady of Charity was carried on a pedestal by several young men who had come to the United States as part of the Pedro Pan exodus in the early 1960s. The pedestal was adorned with flowers. They carried her all the way to the altar that had been set up in the stadium. The image had been carefully cleaned, her hair combed, and her new white dress sewn with lace trimmings. The crowd cheered and people wept as they gazed on the image, and many waved white handkerchiefs. Many of the children knelt as she passed and greeted her by making the sign of the cross.

At the end of the Mass the crowd went wild, clapping loudly nonstop as Archbishop Carroll blessed them and sent them off with the only two words he knew in Spanish, “
¡Buenas
noches!
”

Filled with emotion, Archbishop Carroll began to cry, and so did Luisito as he hugged his mother.

Luisito felt great pride and satisfaction that he had helped to bring the original copy of this statue to the Cuban exiles. When he lived in Cuba, he wasn't able to do
much about anything. Here in the United States, he could make a real difference. He was sitting in a row with his parents, Rosie, and their Miami relatives. Luisito fingered the beautiful silver pocket crucifix he had received from Father René Jesus for his help in bringing the statue to safety.

Luisito had never seen so many people crying. So many Cubans in the United States were wishing for Cuba to be free and praying for those they had been forced to leave behind. His was not the only family separated. There were thousands of people who still awaited their parents, spouses, and other relatives who had not received permission to leave.
La
Virgen
de
la
Caridad
del
Cobre
gave them hope.

The arrest of the Cuban men who tried to steal the statue of Our Lady of Charity and the possibility that they were indeed spying for the Cuban government was much talked about at Luisito's house, but it only made a paragraph in the international section of most U.S. newspapers.

Luisito was concerned about Abuela and the repercussions that the situation might cause for her back home. The family had requested a call to Cuba and were waiting for the operator to connect them. They could not just pick up the phone and call Cuba because there was no direct line. This was the third time they had tried. The
previous times the operator said no one was answering, which caused them even more anxiety.

Although concerned, the family went on with Christmas plans, hoping that they would hear from Abuela soon. José and Miguel came out with some boxes of lights and ornaments to decorate Maricusa and Manuel's front lawn. Many of the neighbors already had lights on their roofs and nativity scenes, plastic snowmen, and reindeer in their yards.

Luisito noticed something he hadn't realized before. Many of the houses on their block had wreaths on the door. These circular arrangements where just like the ones he'd seen at the funerals in Cuba.

“What does this mean, José?” Luisito asked, pointing to the wreath they were about to place on the door. “Did you buy this
corona
at the funeral home?”

“At the funeral home! Oh, no, coronas, or crowns, are used for funerals in Cuba, but in America they're for decoration,” José said, laughing. “These are called Christmas wreaths. It's an American tradition.”