specialists of Ministry of the Interior (Minint) and the Cuban Maritime Association detailed this Tuesday the results of the official investigation related to the “maritime incident” that took place on October 28 off the coast of Bahía Honda, province of Sagebrushand which left a balance of seven people dead, including a minor.
According to report of the Cuban News Agency (ACN), the evidence and testimonies exposed in a special program broadcast by Cuban television deny the responsibility of the Border Guard Troops (TGF) in the collision between a surface unit of said force and the boat coming from USA.
The events occurred during the containment of another attempt to leave the country illegally, and the investigation shows “the various violations by the perpetrators of the aforementioned act, which from Miami and on social networks has unleashed a campaign of misrepresentations around its fatal outcome.” , according to ACN.
Human trafficking incident in western Cuba leaves five dead, including a minor
Colonel Víctor Álvarez Valle, deputy chief of the Ministry of Criminal Investigation General Directorate, and Lieutenant Colonel Liván Rodríguez Hernández, in their capacity as expert witnesses, presented the main aggravating factors of the fact, which, according to the investigation, range from the modifications made to the offending vessel until the attempt to navigate with 26 people on board when its design capacity is for six.
The commission concludes that the surface unit of the Border Guard Troops complied with what was established for cases of illegal departures, by maintaining a certain distance from the vessel in question, “but the adverse technical conditions in which the naval environment that was damaged due to excessive weight , the breakage of one of its two engines that led to the loss of its control and the bad maneuver of its pilot, in addition to causing it to collide, caused it to turn in the middle of the darkness and a rough sea, “according to the review of ACN.
For their part, experts from the Department of Navigation Safety of the Cuban Maritime Association elaborated on the violations of International Law committed by the boatmen of the affected vessel, as well as insisted on the lack of security for travelers, since they were not wearing vests or life jackets, nor were there fire extinguishers.
The television program included testimonies from some of the survivors. Luis Manuel Borges Álvarez, one of the boatmen directly involved in the operation, who is detained and prosecuted for his responsibility in what happened, also gave his version before the cameras.
Borges Álvarez, who had been tried and convicted in Cuba for the same activity and managed to emigrate illegally towards the United States, he recognized that the fatal outcome occurred when the vessel he was guiding, after losing control due to the impact of one of its engines with the seabed, heeled over, placing itself on the navigation course of the MININT vessel, and that Despite the maneuvers of the officer in command of that boat, he could not avoid the collision, the source points out.
Traffic with pain in a pleasure boat. The human traffickers embarked 24 people where there was room for 6, they were without life jackets, overcrowded, unstable, together with 13 tanks of gasoline, without fire extinguishers and in the dark. #NoToHumanTrafficking pic.twitter.com/KKZ85UdqzX
— MININT_CUBA (@minint_cuba) November 30, 2022
According to this material, Héctor Meizoso Fabelo, a resident of the United States, was the main organizer of the human trafficking operation and charged large sums of money from various passengers for their illegal departure from the country.
The Cuban authorities reiterated on the television program that events like these are a consequence of the policy of the United States government against Cuba in immigration matters, “which encourages the carrying out of human trafficking operations, organized by unscrupulous elements residing in that country.” , at the same time that it hinders safe, orderly and regular emigration”, highlights the Cuban agency.
After this event occurred last month, many associated it with what happened to the Tugboat March 13, which in an attempt to leave the country illegally was intercepted by similar vessels manned by government sympathizers, and ended up sunk after leaving the bay of Havana. Then 41 people died, including several minors.
