September 11/98
René González recalls the uneventful night before the FBI smashed in his door.

René González

“The day before the arrest was a regular day. I was preparing to start flying to Bahamas with a small company operated by a friend out of Opalocka airport—the same place where the Bay of Pigs brigade was flown to Central America from—and did some small errands in regards to that goal.

“Then I went back home early to say goodbye to my wife and stay with my daughters.

“My second daughter Ivette was born on April 24, 1998, at the Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital. She was over four months old by the time of the arrests. By then my wife had started working as a telemarketer, selling an English course over the phone. Her work day started at 2 pm until 11 pm, so Irmita [his older daughter] and I had to take care of the baby.

“Later in the evening I fed the baby. I lay in bed and bent my knees so as to make kind of a seat for her. She would then drink her milk with her back against my thighs, looking me straight in the eyes with that intense stare of hers.
That night she immediately fell asleep, so I put her over my chest face up, her arms wide open. That’s how my wife found us after work, and she couldn’t resist the temptation of taking a picture of us. It is a beautiful picture, myself laying on my back with the baby on my chest, her arms to the sides and a very satisfied expression on her face.”

The following morning, at 6 a.m., armed FBI agents stormed his apartment.