SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- The United States Coast Guard (USCG) repatriated this Friday, August 2, a group of 34 rafters Cubans who were intercepted in the maritime vicinity of the Florida Keys.
In a release In a statement issued on its official website, the USCG said the crew of the Cutter Charles David Jr. repatriated 34 migrants to Cuba on Friday following an interception near Marathon.
The 26 men, seven women and a girl had left the country illegally by sea. They were returned to the Cuban authorities in the port of Orozco, in Bahía Honda, Artemisa, said a statement from the Ministry of the Interior (MININT).
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore had alerted Sector Key West watchstanders to the presence of a migrant boat Monday about 34 miles southeast of Boot Key. Crews from the Sycamore, Charles David Jr. and Station Marathon intercepted the boat and transferred the migrants to the Cutter Charles David Jr.
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The Coast Guard warned that it will continue to monitor coastal areas to prevent illegal immigration by this route. It also insisted that crossing the Florida Straits poses a high risk to life.
“Illegally immigrating to the U.S. on an overloaded, unmanned vessel is extremely dangerous and puts your life and the lives of your loved ones at risk,” said Lt. Thomas Pease, Coast Guard District Seven enforcement officer. “The Coast Guard’s top priority is preventing the tragic loss of life at sea.”
With this new operation, the number of irregular migrants returned to Cuba so far this year totals 933.
On Wednesday, 32 rafters who were intercepted on a boat near Marathon in the Florida Keys were also repatriated, according to a statement from the entity.
For its part, the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) of Cuba reported that the group consisting of 26 men and six women arrived at the port of Orozco, Bahía Honda, in the province of Artemisa.
In an unprecedented migratory exodus, repatriations by sea or air continue unabated. Amid a context of food shortages, medical supplies and a serious inflationary crisis, many residents of the largest of the Antilles risk their lives to reach the United States.
Despite the current migration crisis, which has seen nearly half a million Cubans enter the United States in the past three years, the program of words humanitarian launched by the Biden Administration has helped to slow the flow of rafters.
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