Cuban mother searches for her son who went missing after leaving by raft towards the U.S. in 2023.

The Cuban mother Osmara García Mesa turned to social media in the tireless search for her son, Jonahtan Jesús Álvarez García, who disappeared in January 2023 while attempting to reach the United States on a raft along with 32 other people.

Through an emotional post on Facebook, Osmara detailed that the vessel left from Cárdenas, Matanzas, in the early hours of January 3, and since then there has been no news about her son or the other rafters.

Jonathan, born on October 31, 1994, was 28 years old at the time of his disappearance. Additionally, on the same journey were Noralvis Álvarez Flores, 39 years old, and Aylet de la Caridad Capote Álvarez, 9 years old, who would soon turn 10.

Osmara, desperate for information, has asked anyone who has news about them to contact her at the number 58112193 or to go to her home in Cárdenas, Cuba.

This case highlights the tragedy that many Cuban families face in the search for their loved ones, who risk their lives on the dangerous sea journey to the United States in search of better opportunities.

On August 31, it was reported that the dangerous journey has claimed the lives of at least 142 migrants so far in 2024, according to a report from the Missing Migrants Program of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

These tragic data, cited by EFE, are part of a broader picture that records a total of 291 migrants dead or missing on Caribbean sea routes during the year, representing an 18% increase compared to the 247 cases reported throughout 2023.

In July, a group of seven women and 12 Cuban men were reported missing somewhere along the western coast of the country, between the provinces of Artemisa and Mayabeque, following an alleged illegal departure, alerted the platform YoSíTeCreo in Cuba.

In January, it was revealed that a rustic boat that left Cuba with 13 rafters had been missing since December 19.