MADRID, Spain.- The United States Coast Guard (USCG) returned to Cuba this Sunday 64 Cuban migrants (54 men and 10 women) through the Port of Orozco, in Bahía Honda, Artemisa.
The rafters, residing in the provinces of Matanzas and Mayabeque, had left the island irregularly and were intercepted by the USCG in six operations in the Straits of Florida.
#BREAKING @USCG Cutter Isaac Mayo’s crew repatriated 64 people to Cuba, Sun.
“Anyone attempting to enter the US illegally by sea will be rescued & repatriated & those who land will be apprehended & processed for removal.” – LCDR Beal, D7. https://t.co/GSIxLUUpdH@USEmbCuba pic.twitter.com/mxY3JNkvEW
—USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) April 2, 2023
According to the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT), quoted by the official cubadebate, “Two of the returnees were transferred to the investigative bodies for being alleged perpetrators of serious criminal acts that were being investigated since before they became involved in these illegal departures.”
The information indicates that the Cuban regime “maintains firm its commitment to regular, safe and orderly migration and reiterates the danger and life-threatening conditions that illegal departures from the country by sea represent.”
With these 64 repatriated migrants, the number of Cubans who have been returned to the Island from various countries in the region so far in 2023 now amounts to 2,998; the majority—2,165—have been deported by the US Coast Guard. While since October 1, 2022 —beginning of the current fiscal year— a total of 6,202 Cuban rafters have been intercepted at sea by US authorities. This figure already exceeds that registered in the previous fiscal year, when 6,182 were arrested.
Despite the constant warnings from the US Coast Guard about the return to Cuba of all migrants who are intercepted at sea, Cubans continue trying to reach US coasts, suffocated by the economic crisis the country is going through —the worst recorded since he Special Periodl— and the lack of freedoms.
