A boat carrying Cuban migrants is intercepted by the island’s Coast Guard on December 22. Ramon Espinosa (AP)
Once again, an unfortunate tragedy in the Florida Straits has demonstrated the seriousness of the Cuban migration crisis and how much remains to be done for Havana and Washington to normalize irregular migration flows between the two countries. This time, the shipwreck occurred off the north coast of Matanzas, near Cayo Cruz del Padre, when a fragile boat capsized carrying 28 rafts traveling to flee their country and pursue the American dream. They left the Cárdenas coast on January 23, but bad weather and waves made the adventure a death trap: There are five dead and 12 missing, according to an official Cuban statement, which suggests two ships belonging to the Border Patrol Service were rescued to 11 survivors. Otherwise little is known.
The fateful, cyclical news of yet another shipwreck and death toll is particularly shocking today because both the US and Cuba recently struck immigration deals and the US Embassy in Havana has been actively and passively urging rafters not to try or risking their lives because they will be deported immediately. Both countries have maintained high-level contacts in recent months to try to stem the unprecedented exodus of Cubans to the US — nearly 300,000 crossed the Mexican border into the US illegally in 2022 and another 10,000 were killed at sea by the American or guards on the Cuban coast – but nothing seems to be able to stop the onslaught. According to the US, more than 400 Cubans were intercepted at sea between January 20 and 27, and this month the number has increased to more than a thousand – most already repatriated. The number sounded all the alarm bells, because in the entire fiscal year 2022 there were just over 6,000 intercepts.
The latest tragedy is terrible in itself, but made even bloodier by the context in which it occurs. Both governments have successfully resumed high-level immigration and security meetings in recent months and struck related deals, such as Cuba’s willingness to accept deportation flights from the US with irregular immigrants while Washington reopens its consulate in Havana (dismantled in the Trump era). ) and has promised to reissue at least 20,000 emigrant visas to Cuban citizens each year. In addition, it has just opened the opportunity for 30,000 Cubans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and Venezuelans to benefit from a new special immigration program each month to legally enter the United States with the support of a sponsor.
When US President Joe Biden announced the new regulations on January 5, he was blunt: “My message is: If you are trying to leave Cuba, Nicaragua or Haiti, do not show up at the border. Stay where you are and apply legally.” But nothing. At the moment, there is no light on the horizon that manages to illuminate a solution that will satisfy the Cubans’ desire to leave their country at any cost. The causes are essentially related to the very serious economic crisis that Cuba has been going through for years and the absolute hopelessness of the people, exhausted by the hardships and burdens of all kinds that make daily survival on the island an ordeal.
The Havana government accuses the United States of cynically encouraging this exodus, maintaining its policy of embargo and economic suffocation, which greatly increases the country’s difficulties, and continuing to apply policies that favor Cubans coming to the United States , continues to benefit by any means It is true that these benefits are now much smaller than before. For the US, the Cuban government’s inability to give its people hope for a better future is the ultimate reason for the drama. And amidst this crossfire of mutual complaints and accusations, thousands of Cubans, mostly young, continue to build rafts, jump into the sea and drown in the emerald waters of the Florida Straits in a shameful tragedy.
Subscribe to the EL PAÍS America newsletter here and receive all the latest news from the region
Subscribe to EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
Subscribe to