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SALUTE TO LADY LIBERTYI think 1\America is the ibest country. r\-%u25a0She opens herdoors to thosewho want to'escape. Sheopened herdoors to meAnd I made a pt?*- 'future here.You can V dothat in Cuba.his time working the two jobs, Perez sold jewelry on the side.STARTED IN THE STREET %u201cMostly earrings and watches,%u201d he said. %u201cI had a man who would supply me with the jewelry and I sold it during my time off. After that I sold it on the street and door to door.%u201d In 1968 he had saved $6,000 and saw a place to put a small business on Court Street. %u201cIt was just a tiny shop, but at that time I didn%u2019t need a lot of space. It was just enough to get started.%u201d His jewelry supplier started him off with $30,000 in jewelry %u2014 a risk that amazes Perez to this day. %u201cIt was a great chance he took on me,%u201d says Perez. %u201cOnly in America do you find this.%u201dTwo years later, the same year Perez became an American citizen, he made good on his promise to Cuba%u2019s patron saint. That year 400 people came to the September 8 mass celebrated at St. Peter, St. Paul and Cur Lady of Pilar in Cobble Hill; a decade la,er more than 100,000 people jammed the streets of South Brookyn to pay homage to both Cuba and America.%u201cI am happy to celebrate both countries,%u201d says Perez. %u201cI think America is the best country. She opens her doors to those people who want to escape from oppression. She opened her doors to me and I made a future for myself. You can%u2019t do that in Cuba.%u201d FULFILLMENT OF A PROMISE Our Lady of Charity is more than just a statue that stands guard over Perez%u2019 shop; the celebration more than just the fulfillment of a desperate promise made 25 years ago. It is a symbol of his homeland where the Lady%u2019s day cannot be commemmorated, and the struggle he waged to leave it. The statue is of the saint holding a child with a boat and three men in the foreground. The men are praying to the saint for guidance from a terrible storm. %u201cThe legend saidthat once they prayed to Caridad, the seas stopped and saved their lives.%u201dAs much as Perez is proud of his new home, there have been irretrievable compromises %u2014 not the least of which is his family. Another of his sisters died last year %u201cand I could not do anything. I could not go to her; it wasn%u2019t allowed,%u201d he says. He gets letters from Cuba a couple of times a year now, mostly smuggled through Mexico.%u201cBut it%u2019s not enough. I know I will never see them.%u201dIt is because of his personal struggle that Perez was in Washington late last month demonstrating in favor of Ronald Reagan%u2019s request to send $100 million in aid to the Contras in Nicaragua. %u201cI took the Cuban flag I have with me. It%u2019s 63 yards of material and takes 50 people to hold it. I wanted the President to know that as a Cuban I support him. I know that if the Communists take Nicaragua, then they will take Honduras and Costa Rica. How long before they take Mexico and then just walk right over the border to America?%u201dPerez says that during the Kennedy era he and his friends waited for salvation from the Americans that never came. %u201cMaybe it wasn%u2019t Kennedy,%u201d he says. %u201cMaybe the American people wouldn%u2019t let him send troops over, but we were waiting for the invasion.%u201dWhen no invasion occurred, Perez and his six friends agreed that liberty was necessary at any cost. The seven set sail as acquaintances in a common cause, and today, five still live in the United States and two live in Puerto Rico. All were delivered to freedom to begun new lives.%u201cWe were all bom in Cuba,%u201d says Perez. %u201cBut we were all reborn together that day when the fishing boat picked us up and took us to America.%u201dThe Spirit o f Liberty Still Shines:Cambodian Family Smuggles ItsWay Out Of Vietnam To Live FreeThe New York City Department o fPorts and Terminalshas expanded its missionto better servethe Port o f New YorkOur new name is :The Department of Ports,International Trade, and CommerceBattery M aritim e BuildingNew York, NY 10004( 2 1 2 ) 8 0 6 - 6 7 0 0Edward I. KochM a yo rAlair A. TownsendD ep u ty M a yo r fo r F in a n ceand Econom ic Developm entMichael P. HuertaC o m m is s io n e rn t eflew Y orTHats Off 1oThe Statue of LibertyUlano CorporationBY ARTHUR KROEBERSunheng Than was a 21-year-old student at Pnomh Penh%u2019s University of Science in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge forces ended five years of civil war in Cambodia by seizing power.Eleven years and thousands of miles away from that time and place, Sunheng now lives in Brooklyn with about a dozen members of her family. She has traded the misery of the Khmer Rouge years for the quiet comfort of a two-story house in Midwood. She has traded the world of her homeland for the new world, America, and in so doing has joined the tradition of immigrants who have put their stamp on the character of New York City for the past 150years.One of seven children bom to a well-to-do jeweler, Sunheng in her early years enjoyed the life of the prosperous urban middle class that grew up following the end of French Colonial rule in 1953. She was educated in French-language schools and developed an interest in the sciences which she pursued at University. One of her four brothers became an omcer in the Cambodian army; her eldest sister, Eng Ly, married a diplomat who joined the Cambodian( ontinued on hollowing I'ugeJuly 3,1986, THE PH O EN IX, Page 17