Straits of Florida

The Straits of Florida is the dangerous passage between Florida and Cuba that Aurelio attempts to cross in a barely seaworthy boat after escaping the satanic sect. In his flight, the strait becomes more than a stretch of water: it is the uncertain boundary between the life he is escaping and the chance to return to his homeland.

Route and Setting

After walking for days and nights while avoiding major roads and contact with other people, Aurelio reaches Key West, at the southern tip of Florida. He finds an abandoned boat on the beach, pushes it into the water in the middle of the night, and sets out for Cuba, roughly 150 kilometers away. A light wind blowing toward Cuba offers a narrow opportunity to make the crossing.

The Crossing and Rescue

Aurelio has no proper oar, only a rotten piece of board, and the boat is tossed about on the dark water. The crossing is presented as a mortal gamble: he is at the mercy of the wind and sea, with sharks, jellyfish, reefs, and the imagined menace of the devil intensifying his sense of danger. He would rather risk dying at sea than return to the inferno he has fled, and entrusts the outcome to Providence. The journey ends not with Aurelio reaching Cuba unaided, but with pleasure boaters spotting him adrift. They tow his boat to the boundary between the United States and Cuba; exhausted but alive, he reaches a deserted shore near Varadero.

Narrative Significance

The strait gives physical form to Aurelio’s break with the sect: his escape requires a passage through real danger, not merely a change of allegiance. Its darkness and uncertain currents also frame the crossing as an ordeal in which survival depends partly on chance and partly, in the account’s religious language, on Providence. The safe arrival near Varadero turns the attempted flight into a passage out of captivity, while the rescue makes that deliverance contingent on help from others.