MIAMI, United States. — Every day, dozens of Cubans throw themselves into the sea trying to reach the United States in risky journeys through the Straits of Florida. However, behind the images that show many migrants from the Island disembarking in lands of freedom hides a heartbreaking reality: the vast majority of these rafters are intercepted by the US authorities and then returned to Cuba.
It is clear that arriving by sea to the United States aboard artisanal vessels is not an easy thing either. In recent months, entire groups of Cubans have disappeared at sea. There are testimonials from people who have lost family and loved ones in the attempt. Recently, some of them were damaged by Cuban coast guards.
The fact is that almost no Cubans make it to the mainland, instead they land in the Florida Keys, even in even more isolated territories, such as Dry Tortugas, where they are easy prey for Border Patrol operatives. Others, which are not few, are rescued by the Coast Guard at sea for their subsequent return to the Island.
Earlier this week, a video showed a large group of rafters disembarking at Sombrero Beach in the city of Marathon. One of those present at the scene told the migrants who had already arrived that they were fine. Some voices even assured that they had already touched land, as if the fact of arriving guaranteed them the benefits that Cubans once had in times of “dry feet, wet feet.”
Beyond the figures provided by the US authorities, little is known about the Cuban rafters who arrive in the United States. The Coast Guard points out that in fiscal year 2022, which ended on September 30, more than 6,000 rafters they were intercepted and deported. From October 1 to date, another 2,000 have been arrested.
The protocol of the US authorities is clear: provide them with food and rigorous care and then return them to Cuba. Certainly, there are reports of Cubans who have managed to remain in the United States with their relatives, although the circumstances that facilitated their stay in the country with current government policies are unknown.
The remoteness of the Florida Keys and the lack of communication devices make it very difficult for Cuban rafters to connect with relatives in the US, if they have them. Miami-Dade County —where a large part of the Cuban community in South Florida lives— and the area of the keys are hundreds of miles well guarded by the Border Patrol and law enforcement agents, who have redoubled their vigilance before the arrival mass of Cubans
Nor are there many testimonies on the Island of those who were deported, people who, in many cases, left everything they had to escape the repression and misery into which communism has plunged the Greater Antilles.
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