MIAMI, United States. – This Wednesday, the United States Coast Guard returned to Cuba 43 people who had participated in two illegal departures, according to a brief note of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT).
The state agency Prensa Latina accurate that the group was made up of 34 men, seven women and two returned minors, who were returned to the Island through the port of Orozco, Bahía Honda, in the province of Artemisa.
The migrants had left the Island by sea and were intercepted by the United States Coast Guard.
According to official information, two of the returned people were transferred to the investigation body because they were identified as “alleged perpetrators of criminal acts before leaving the country.”
With this return there will be 90 returns from countries in the region in 2024, with 1,312 irregular migrants, according to Prensa Latina.
Havana and Washington resumed deportation flights in April 2023, focused mainly on people considered “inadmissible” after being detained on the United States border with Mexico. In addition, they maintain a bilateral agreement that establishes that all migrants who arrive by sea to US territory will be returned to the Island.
Numerous groups of Cubans try to cross the Straits of Florida to escape the harsh conditions of life on the Island. In the midst of a context of shortages of food, medical supplies and a serious inflationary crisis, many residents of the largest of the Antilles risk their lives to reach the North American country.
Despite the current immigration crisis, due to which almost half a million Cubans have entered the United States in the last three years, the parole humanitarian program launched by the Biden Administration in January 2023 has contributed to reducing the flow of rafters.
Since the beginning of 2024, returns of Cubans have also been carried out through commercial flights from the Cayman Islands, Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.
