Cuban fisherman reports theft of the vessel that brought 43 rafters to Florida.

The Cuban fisherman Fermín Puig reported the theft of his boat, used to transport 43 Cuban migrants to Florida, United States, and assured that "he has lost everything."

Finally, the group was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard after landing on Cayo Marathon, in the southern part of the state, early Tuesday morning, according to Martí Noticias.

While the migrants face possible deportation, Puig was summoned by the police on the island and they suggested that he facilitated the theft of his boat, which was docked in the bay of Cojímar, east of Havana.

"Nobody saw anything, not even the guards," he explained.

"Yesterday I left the station at almost 11 at night and today I was summoned for one in the afternoon. All the time they insinuate that I sold the boat or facilitated things for them to take it away. But how am I going to sell what feeds my family?" he explained to the aforementioned media outlet.

The fisherman stated that the boat was docked in the bay of Cojímar, east of Havana, and on Monday night he discovered that it had been taken.

Puig denies any involvement in the illegal exit, stating that the boat was his only source of livelihood.

According to lawyer Raudiel Peña from the legal advisory service Cubalex, the fisherman will only be judged if the Ministry of the Interior and the Prosecutor's Office prove that it was not a robbery. However, in practice, the burden of proof usually falls on the affected party.

Her daughter, Amanda Puig, who lives in the United States, laments the situation. "My dad was left with nothing and he wasn't even among those who arrived. In Cuba, there is no insurance that covers this, we are desperate," she expressed.

Meanwhile, her sister, Francis Puig, demands justice and to find the culprit of the robbery. "With the situation in Cuba, it is very difficult for my brother to recover. To make matters worse, they are threatening to take away his fishing license," she said, according to Martí Noticias.

The value of the vessel exceeded 20,000 dollars, and the United States Coast Guard has indicated that it does not return boats that arrive from Cuba due to "logistical difficulties."

Arrival of the migrants

The Border Patrol apprehended 43 Cubans after they arrived on the shores of the Florida Keys in a small fishing boat. The group of Cubans landed on Sombrero Beach in Marathon, one of the most well-known areas of the Keys.

According to the head of the Border Patrol, Andrew Scharnweber, the migrants were traveling on a wooden fishing boat registered in Havana.

The forecasts finally came true, and 2024 is on track to become the second fiscal year with the highest influx of Cubans at the southern border of the United States, with more than 208,000 asylum seekers.

Data from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office indicate the arrival of 208,308 Cubans at U.S. border points up to August of the current fiscal year (FY 2024), which began in October 2023 and ends this September.