Havana: A makeshift boat loaded with Cubans drifted just off Havana’s seaside drive on Monday before those aboard were rescued by the Cuban Coast Guard as hundreds of spectators looked on.
A passerby who said he helped police bring on shore two men who had jumped ship as the coast guard arrived on Monday (Tuesday AEDT), said the migrants said they had left from a town just west of Havana, but their motor had quickly failed.
People in a makeshift boat with the US flag painted on the side are captured by the Cuban Coast Guard near the Malecon seawall in Havana, Cuba.Credit:AP
“They had paid 50,000 Cuban pesos each [approximately $421] to get on the boat to leave for the United States, but the engine broke and began to smoke,” Joel Anibal, who had been riding his bicycle along the sea promenade, known as the Malecon. “Thank God it seems they’re all fine.”
As the coast guard towed the boat into Havana Bay an American flag could be seen pasted to its side.
Would be migrants receive health checks and are released, though organisers of the dangerous journeys can be charged with human trafficking.
A severe economic downturn in Cuba has driven a massive spike in emigration from the Caribbean island in the past year by land, air and sea.
The would-be migrants are transferred to the Cuban coast guard boat off Havana.Credit:AP
Some migrants attempt to reach Florida via dangerous journeys on rickety vessels that sometimes end in tragedy, though most fly to Central America or Mexico and cross by land.
Last month, the government strenuously denied causing the deaths of seven people, including a two-year-old girl, when its coast guard collided with the boat of a group of migrants travelling by night, further offshore. Some survivors accused the government of repeatedly ramming the boat.
A record 220,000 Cubans were stopped at the US-Mexico border in fiscal year 2022, which ended on September 30, a 471 per cent increase from the year before, according to US Customs and Border Protection data. The vast majority were allowed into the United States to pursue immigration cases.
The US Coast Guard reported it intercepted 6182 Cubans at sea in fiscal year 2022, and another 2982 since then as of Saturday.
The exodus, combined with the reopening of US visa and consular services on the island, has accelerated talks between the two governments, which share a historically tense relationship.
The latest came last weekend, as three visiting Democratic congressmen met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and other Cuban leaders. The lawmakers left the island on Monday, American officials told the AP. US authorities also noted that migration was among the topics discussed.
Reuters, AP
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