Very Interesting Timing

AFP is reporting that the US Coast Guard just happens to have an exercise going on in the Florida Straits right now. The exercise is being explained as preparing for an influx of refugees from "any Caribbean nation". Uh, sure.

Peering at a map of the region Tuesday ahead of an exercise, with the current positions of a dozen ships marked off by flags, Coast Guard Rear Admiral David Kunkel said they had a clear mission: to stop the exodus.

"We don't want to be caught off guard," said Kunkel, who was leading the exercise on responding to a mass migration from what the guard insists could be "any Caribbean nation" to the southeastern state of Florida.

But the timing is no coincidence.

Castro, who has led the only communist country in the Americas for more than four decades, has been out of sight for months after intestinal surgery, and expectations are rising that the 80 year old leader might soon pass from power.

The country of more then 11 million is a short hop away by speedboat; smugglers usually charge up to 10,000 dollars a person to transport migrants from Cuba.

One has to wonder if they heard something. It would be interesting to know exactly when this exercise was decided on and if these are the original dates.