La Marielita

The Mariel exodus has produced some of the best and worst moments for the image of the Cuban exiles in the United States. The arrival of 125,000 Cubans between April 15 and Oct. 31, 1980, meant a cultural renewal for Miami due to the wide representation of artists from different disciplines who brought their contributions to the city.

The exodus also served as the background for one of the films deeply rooted in American popular culture, “Scarface.” Starring Al Pacino as Tony

Montana, a “marielito” drug dealer and murderer, and directed by Brian De Palma, the movie is very difficult to ignore. “Scarface” heavily influenced the image of so many Cubans who came to this country to work, their reputations affected by the criminals that the government of Fidel Castro embedded with them, emptying jails.

Now the Mariel exodus has inspired a rum, La Marielita was created by writer and businesswoman Janet Díaz Bonilla, who conceived it as a tribute to the freedom that those Cubans sought. As a 6-yearold girl, she herself made a 17-hour journey with her family in rough seas with 20-foot waves to reach the United States.

“The government told us to leave during a storm. It was a miracle we didn’t sink,” recalls Díaz Bonilla, referring to the Cuban government’s policy of overcrowding the boats with Cuban migrants like the fragile wooden vessel that brought her family through the Straits of Florida.

“I was carrying a rag doll. The guard took it from me. It was the only thing I was carrying,” says Díaz Bonilla, who left the port of Mariel, west of Havana, on May 17, 1980.

This is one of her last memories of Cuba, after being in El Mosquito, the camp where the Cuban