AndCuban rafter managed to survive twoshipwrecks followed during their journey by sea from the island toFlorida, according to heartbreaking testimony in the international press.
Alexander, how he was identifiedCuban migrant, left Cuba in the early hours of November 16, 2022 and for 60 hours he lived a true odyssey to fulfill his desire to emigrate to the United States, he noted this Tuesday in his statements toBBC News.
He said that his trip began in a fishing boat, designed for eight people, but in which 20 people were traveling, including four children under seven years old and two teenagers.
“It was a matter of seconds. A wrong turn of the rudder, with a wave coming from the front. It passed over the bow of the ship and sank it instantly," recalled Alexander, one of only two survivors of that first shipwreck during their sea voyage.
He said the fishing boat “fell like a torpedo. There was no time for anything” and since he was sitting in the stern he managed to jump before the boat sank in the Strait of Florida, which is more than a kilometer and a half deep.
Although the adults came to the surface, the smaller children, who were traveling in the cabin of the boat, could not get out, the Cuban told the aforementioned media.
He also said that with his compass he tried to encourage the rest of the adults who were swimming with him to reach land, but the parents did not want to leave the place where their children had gone down with the boat and he finally lost sight of the group. .
He was adrift for two days and two nights until other Cuban migrants rescued him, but that second boat also capsized due to being too overloaded.
He recalled that the only thing he could do was cling to a plastic box to stay afloat, thanks to which he was able to be rescued the next day by a merchant ship that called the United States Coast Guard, but only him and eight rafters from the second ship survived the tragic journey, in which many Cubans risked themselves to emigrate to United States territory.
Alexander also said that after his rescue he remained for several days without being able to walk or eat and that he made that trip because there was nothing to keep him in Cuba and that his desire to leave was greater than the risks of that journey.
Despite this and many other tragedies that have occurred in recent years, the flow of irregular Cuban migrants by sea continues.
Recently, astatement of the United States Coast Guard updated the data of Cuban rafters intercepted or found by their crews in the Strait of Floridasince October 1, 2022, when the current fiscal year began: 6,761 immigrants.
The Seventh District of the Coast Guard also once again warned of the futility and risk of these illegal trips by sea, especially during the hurricane season.
"Remember that weather conditions in the Straits of Florida and the Caribbean can change rapidly. Attempts at irregular and illegal migration by sea are especially dangerous, and you will be rescued and repatriated," the agency recently warned on its Twitter account.
Until last June 8, theUS Coast Guard had detained 6,701 Cubans at sea, a figure that for months has exceeded the entire previous fiscal year.
"The maritime borders are closed to illegal entry into the US. If attempted, it will result in disqualification for the parole process in Cuba," recalled Lt. Travis Poulos, Coast Guard District Seven.
The arrivals ofrafters in the Miami sector experienced a new peak of 5,929 during April last, the largest of the last three years.
According to data from the Department of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Cuban arrivals by sea to the coasts of Florida totaled 22,530 in the first seven months of fiscal year 2023 (FY2023).
Following the gradual closure of land borders, sea arrivals to South Florida rose 476 percent from December to May. In the last month of 2022, 1,245 Cuban rafters arrived.
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