MIAMI, United States. – The United States Coast Guard repatriated to Cuba on Wednesday 32 rafters who were intercepted on a boat near Marathon, in the Florida Keys, according to the 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.
He also said that one of the returnees was transferred to the investigative bodies for being the alleged perpetrator of a crime.
The group of rafters had been located by a crew from the Coast Guard Air Station Miami last Friday, at approximately 2:00 p.m. and about 66 kilometers southeast of Long Key.
Shortly thereafter, Coast Guard Station Islamorada officers intercepted the vessel and transferred the migrants to the Coast Guard Cutter Charles David Jr. for disposition.
“Anyone attempting to illegally migrate by sea will be intercepted and returned to their home country,” said Lt. Cmdr. Cheri-Ann Thompson of Coast Guard District Seven. “These journeys are not only illegal, but incredibly dangerous. No one should risk their lives on unsafe, unstable vessels in unpredictable seas.”
Just this Tuesday, U.S. Border Patrol agents detained 33 Cuban rafters who had landed in Key West, reported Samuel Briggs II, acting chief of the U.S. Border Patrol (Miami Sector), on social media X.
The previous Thursday, the Coast Guard (USCG) had repatriated 17 other rafters from the island intercepted near the coast of Florida.
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.
With Wednesday’s operation, the number of Cubans returned from different countries in the region in 56 returns carried out so far in 2024 reached 899.
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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