MIAMI, United States. – Rafael García Rodríguez, the Cuban immigration officer who fled the island on a chartered flight from Santiago de Cuba and arrived in the United States at the end of October, told Univision News 23 that he feared being deported to the Island, where years in prison would await him.
The 24-year-old explained that he decided to leave Cuba after the threats made by his boss, in relation to an incident that occurred at the “Antonio Maceo” International Airport, where he worked.
In his conversation with the news channel, he offered details about the preparation of his escape as a stowaway on a Swiftair aircraft.
“I worked one day yes and one day no; the other shift that worked in immigration knew me little because we didn’t have that friction. I peeled very short, I put on a mask and nobody knew me, ”she said.
On October 29, he showed his employee ID to a security guard and walked directly onto the runway. In his hand he carried a bag with bottles of soft drinks and water to give to airport workers, a practice that is common in Cuba.
Meanwhile, he had put on a green vest with the name of Swiftair on it. At almost 8:00 p.m., she boarded the plane, outwitting both the Cuban immigration officials and the crew.
Once the plane landed in Miami, he turned himself in to immigration authorities and was transferred to a Broward immigration detention center.
On January 28, 2023, García Rodríguez must appear before a judge to defend his political asylum.
In August 2019, Yunier Garcia Duarte, another Cuban stowaway, arrived in the United States hiding in the cargo compartment of a plane coming from Havana. The young man was legally admitted to the northern country after proving “credible fear” before a judge and obtaining political asylum.
In November of this year, another Cuban, a worker at the “José Martí” International Airport in Havana managed to get off the island as one more passenger, although he did not have a ticket, on a flight from the American company JetBlue to Miami.
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