The two Cubans who landed in the Florida Keys with a motorized hang glider this Saturday were identified by Miami media as David López Alfonso and Ismael Hernández Chirino, who flew from the coast of the Havana province and are now facing be deported
The Hispanic channel Telemundo He interviewed Ismael’s sister by phone, who said that their families did not know what they were planning and asked the US authorities not to return them to Cuba.
The motorized hang glider with the two Cubans landed without problems on Saturday morning at the Key West International Airport, one of the southernmost islands of the Florida Keys, less than 100 miles from Cuba.
The two Cubans were detained as soon as they set foot on US territory, after a flight of less than two hours, and turned over to the Border Patrol. “They made commercial flights for tourism and with some Cubans who could afford it,” Laura Hernández Chirino told Telemundo.
The two Cubans were detained as soon as they set foot on US territory, after a flight of less than two hours, and turned over to the Border Patrol.
“If they return them, the problem they are going to find has no word, it cannot be compared to anything. The problem they are going to find is going to be gigantic, they will never be able to be anyone else in their lives,” he said the sister of one of the two pilots.
The Border Patrol is limited to inform their networks of the detention of migrants without giving details and to thank the collaboration of the Monroe Sheriff’s Office.
For its part, the Cuban Aviation Club qualified of “frank violation of airspace” at the departure of the pilots in a team from the institution, with registration CU-U 1619, which was used for sports at the Playas del Este tourist resort, in Havana.
In addition, he asked the international authorities to “apply to these individuals the sanctions corresponding to the seriousness of the case and the return of the stolen equipment.”
So far this fiscal year, some 5,900 Cubans have been intercepted, a high figure considering the same period last year.
Due to its proximity to Cuba, the tourist island of Key West, like the rest of the Florida Keys, is the destination for many of the rudimentary boats aboard which Cubans leave their country, but arrivals by air are not common. .
In October 2002, a Cuban pilot at the controls of an old Russian-made Antonov single-engine plane landed at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, located in the middle of the immense Everglades wetland. He was detained, but a judge granted him asylum and he was not deported.
In the fiscal year of 2022, 6,182 Cuban migrants were intercepted in the waters of the Florida Straits, a figure well above the 838 detained in the previous fiscal period.
So far this fiscal year, some 5,900 Cubans have been intercepted, a high number considering the same period last year.
Cubans have also been arriving in record numbers since 2021 at the land border with Mexico, but since January they have a humanitarian program that allows beneficiaries to enter and work in the US for two years if they have a sponsor who takes responsibility for them. economically.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
