Cuban migrant couple faces strong current in the Rio Grande

This Saturday, a couple of Cuban migrants braved the strong currents of the Rio Grande, which left them stranded for several minutes on the islet that divides the area of the tributary through Piedras Negras, in the Mexican state of Coahuila.

The couple crossed with two Hondurans who were also trying to reach the United States illegally, the news portal reported. Impact Vision, in a video posted on Facebook.

The first section of the river was crossed without too many complications towards the islet, but when trying to cross the second part, the waters became turbulent, the publication reveals.

The Cubans, the Hondurans, and a Venezuelan who joined them on the protruding piece of land, made a chain with their arms to cross the second part of the river.

However, they began a struggle against the waters and finally had to return to the small island.

The Venezuelan, identified as Jairo and who arrived in Piedras Negras on a bicycle that he drove more than 1,355 kilometers from the Mexican state of Morelos, set out alone and, with determined jumps, reached the American shore, where he was received by a patrol agent. border.

Then he tried to explain to his four companions. the way to cross that dangerous part successfully.

The Rio Grande has claimed several migrant lives in recent weeks, as the flow of people trying to cross it to reach the United States increases. On Wednesday alone, 300 Cubans crossed through Piedras Negras. The next day, four bodies of other nationalities were found floating in the tributary.

Since January, fifty deaths have been reported in the flow, which becomes dangerous when the floodgates of the Amistad Dam, used by residents to irrigate their crops, open.

Friday was Colombian man's body found floating by border agents patrolling the town of Acuña, in the state of Coahuila.

Numerous videos have been seen on social networks reporting the crossing of Cubans through the town of Piedras Negras, some of them with situations of extreme danger to the lives of the migrants, among whom it has been possible to see adolescents and young children.

At the end of March, two Cubans, father and son, residents of Placetas, Villa Clara, drowned in that area. They were Luis Miguel González Sáez and his father José Luis, who were swept away by the current of the river while trying to reach US territory.

Luis Miguel's body was found a week later, after the deployment of an operation and the request for help from numerous Cubans who live in territories near the border.

Also in March, the wife and son of Cuban migrant Guillermo Alan Matos died while trying to cross the Rio Grande through Ciudad Acuña. The wife, Alessa Nadines Patiño Rivero, a 25-year-old Uruguayan, and the four-year-old child were fatally swept away by the powerful waters, without Matos being able to prevent it.

In addition to these last two cases reported by CyberCuba, there are several cases of migrants who have lost their lives trying to cross the dangerous river.

At the end of 2021, this newsroom reported on the death of Jill Leyva Toledano, a 25-year-old Cuban, trying to cross it.