Cuban rafters who survived a tragic shipwreck seek to remain in Mexico

The four Cuban rafters who were rescued by Mexican fishermen after being shipwrecked for more than 30 days at sea, tragedy in which four of his compatriots lost their lives, expressed to the Mexican authorities their intention to regularize their immigration status to remain legally in the country.

And statement of the National Migration Institute (INM) reported that officials from that agency in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, met this Monday with Cuban citizens, who They expressed “their desire to access their immigration regularization and thereby remain in the country.”.

The four survivors, identified as Mario Sergio Marquez Ventura, 30 years old; Yuriesky Romero Hernandez, 33; Goddess Tie Loaces, 26, and Rogelio Loaces Fuentes, 35, were admitted to the San Fernando General Hospital on Saturday, due to the state of severe dehydration and malnutrition in which they were found.

According to the INM report, two of the Cubans have already been discharged and the other two remain hospitalized for observation. Local media They had reported on Sunday that Diosan was the one with the most delicate condition.

David García Luna, director of the hospital center, assured that the four patients were progressing very well, although they should have been under observation for a few more days.

The immigration authority affirmed that it will remain attentive to the evolution of the health of Cubans who continue under medical observation.

The eight rafters left Cuba on April 1st heading to the United States., in a boat made of metal sheets and pieces of wood, and propelled by a sail. During the journey, the rudder broke and they were adrift in the open sea.

During the time they were at sea, they were victims of strong storms and waves that exceeded five and six meters in height.

Mexican newspapers reported that Four of the Cubans died “victims of hunger, thirst and hypothermia.”, since they had been shipwrecked for several days.”

The survivors “refused to abandon the lifeless bodies of those who were dying in the shipwreck,” he said. EnlaceMx News. “But sadly they had no choice but to leave the bodies in the sea.”

So far, Cuban authorities have not revealed the identity of the deceased rafters. on the journey, in which they sought to reach the United States.

After 34 days adrift, the boat with the four survivors was located by fishermen three kilometers offshore from the Boca de Catán Barra, which is located in front of the towns of Punta de Piedra and Carbajal in the municipality of San Fernando, in Tamaulipas, in northern Mexico.

Civil Protection personnel gave them first aid until they were transferred to the local hospital.

The Cuban government did not comment on the events until this Monday, when the Cuban Embassy in Mexico reported in its official account in X that the consul general in Monterrey, Fabio Álvarez, had moved to the city of Tamaulipas to offer consular assistance to the four surviving Cubans.

Without offering more details, the note indicated that the Cuban Consulate in Monterrey was in contact with the immigration authorities and the Public Ministry to provide help to the rescued migrants.