1.   At Casa Roman, a sidewalk takeout and restaurant, Eduardo Luis Eustaquio sits at the counter, chain-smoking, recalling his own immigration in the Mariel boat lift.

2.   Known as the Mariel boat lift, the exodus was a major embarrassment for Carter and hardened US-Cuban relations under President Reagan.

3.   Not long after, Castro opened the doors again, and thousands of Cubans left for the United States in the Mariel boat lift.

4.   The upswing in Cuban boat people has brought about rumblings of another Mariel boat lift.