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In Carlos, We Trust

Continued from page 1

Published on May 15, 2008

"Those people are from here, though. How do you like it, dog? You're just some Iraqi that gets picked up in Miami. It is really f-ed up about Gitmo. Gitmo, bro." Then, distracted, Miguel pointed to the front of the bar. "Bro, the dolphin sign is off."

While the bros turned to the bar, two women from Memphis snapped photos near the Bayfront stage to remember their trip to Florida. One of them suspected Guantánamo Bay was located somewhere in the Sunshine State.

"It's here in Florida, right? I don't know; I should Google it," said Shakira "Koko" Cook, a 25-year-old whose eyes were veiled behind vast Fendi sunglasses. "Is somebody famous there?"

Not really. Only eight percent of prisoners have actually been tagged as Al-Qaeda fighters, one study says, which is probably about as famous as terrorists get.

The other woman, a rapper named Gangsta Boo, didn't venture to guess at any details about Gitmo. She slipped away to order a $10 Miami Vice — half strawberry daiquiri, half piña colada.

Riptide told Koko about the mock cell across the park, relaying an activist's claim that one detainee was being imprisoned for having a Timex watch, because government officials believed Al-Qaeda used them to make bombs. The message was not lost on Koko.

"He shouldn't be held based just on his accessories," she said.

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