HAVANA TIMES – At least 11 Cubans have lost their lives in the Florida Strait so far this year, while another 54 are missing. While we know two boats and their 37 crew members managed to reach their destination, the illegal routes that people take, feeling like they have no other choice -, are leaving more and more families in distress and mourning.
The first of these unfortunate events took place on January 23, 2023, in front of the Cardenas, Matanzas coast, when a tragic shipwreck took the lives of at least 11 people and left nine missing. The boat, with a crew of approximately 31 people, had left the island the day before from Torrontela, with the objective of reaching US soil. The boat capsized in Cayo Cruz del Padre, and only 11 survivors were rescued.
Then, on June 28, 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted and transferred 14 Cuban migrants and one dead body to the Bahamas, after the US Coast Guard stopped the group. During the intervention, the authorities tried to resuscitate the Cuban who had been unconscious for 30 minutes, but he didn’t survive unfortunately.
Throughout history, the
sea route has been the most used by waves of illegal migration between Cuba and the US. It’s estimated that approximately 125,000 Cubans left the country in 1980 with the Mariel boatlift; and 14 years later, in 1994, over 30,000 Cubans were involved in the so-called Rafter Crisis.
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