HAVANA (HPD) — Cuban authorities reported Monday that their coast guard rescued 26 migrants who had been abandoned by human smugglers from the United States.
The rescue occurred on Sunday, a day after the same agency revealed that a speedboat also with license plates from the neighboring country had collided with one of its military units, resulting in five deaths.
According to a note from the Ministry of the Interior published by the official Cubadebate website, 26 people – including four minors – were found on Sunday in a disabled boat adrift in Nazábal Bay, in the central province of Villa Clara.
The castaways were taken ashore and according to the statement, they told the authorities that the traffickers abandoned them to their fate with the broken ship. No further details about the incident were released.
“Once again, the impunity with which human trafficking operations destined for that country are organized and coordinated in the United States is revealed, which encourages criminal individuals to carry out these actions that endanger the lives of human beings. humans, including minors,” said the ministry’s note.
On Saturday, another note from the ministry reported the collision of a US speedboat with another from the coast guard. The ship with the migrants capsized and five people lost their lives -including a minor- while another 18 people were rescued.
According to the authorities, the Border Guard Troops, dependent on the ministry, have saved 121 people at sea so far this year.
These incidents are recorded in the midst of a migratory record from Cuba and other countries to the United States. The majority flow of people occurs on the northern border of Mexico, where the islanders arrive after making a dangerous journey through Nicaragua -a country that does not require a visa for Cubans-, but also through the Caribbean through the Strait of Florida.
The US border authorities reported that they had more than 220,000 encounters with Cubans in fiscal year 2022 -which runs from October 2021 to last September-. The United States Coast Guard indicated that in that same period it intercepted 6,182 migrants advancing by sea. Both figures are records.