A Cuban identified as Fermín Izquierdo, originally from Mantua, at the western tip of Pinar del Río, was rescued alive on Monday, October 19, in Caribbean waters, approximately 352 kilometers northeast of the port of Progreso, according to an investigation by Infobae that cites the platform NiO Reportando Un Crimen.
The other five Cubans who were supposed to have departed with him from Mantua to Mexico remain missing, and the authorities have not confirmed their whereabouts.
It was the crew of a container ship that found the castaway drifting. Personnel from the Yucalpetén Search and Rescue Station, part of the Ninth Naval Zone of the Mexican Navy, welcomed him at sea aboard a Defender-type vessel and transported him to Progreso, as confirmed by that naval unit to the Diario de Yucatán.
Izquierdo was admitted to the Yucalpetén Naval Hospital with severe dehydration and skin lesions caused by prolonged exposure to the sun and seawater. He was reported to be stable and out of danger after receiving specialized care.
The Mexican press only described him as "a foreign citizen," without revealing his name or nationality. It was journalist José Raúl Díaz Barrios who identified him as Fermín Izquierdo, a fact reported by Infobae.
After being discharged from medical care, he was placed under the custody of the National Institute of Migration (INM), an agency that can enforce assisted return or deportation. By the close of reports on Wednesday, the authorities had not communicated any decision regarding his immigration status.
The case is set against the backdrop of an intensification of the irregular maritime route from western Cuba to the Yucatán Peninsula and Quintana Roo. The coastal town of Dimas, in Mantua, has become one of the main departure points: in September, a speedboat carrying 21 people left from there headed for Cancún without confirmation of their arrival.
In August, two young balseros drowned in the waters of Pinar del Río when the engine of the vessel carrying them to Cancun broke down. That same month, the Mexican Navy rescued 16 Cubans off the coast of Yucatán, including four minors.
The episode involving Izquierdo is different from that of the 11 rafters who arrived in Cancun on October 18, having departed from the Isle of Youth eight days earlier.
Mexican authorities confirmed that arrival along with that of two other vessels carrying Cubans that landed in Quintana Roo during October.
Pedro Murillo Garay, head of the Regional Captaincy of Puerto Juárez, acknowledged that there are 28 vessels undergoing a declaration of abandonment procedure in that area, some of which are allegedly used by Cuban migrants.
Between September and October, seven boats were removed from Laguna Nichupté.
Municipal police officer Dagoberto Canul attributed the increase in these arrivals to the closure of the U.S. land border: "After the closure of the U.S. border during Donald Trump's administration, Quintana Roo once again recorded clandestine arrivals," he noted.
While the families of Mantua await news of the five missing individuals, the search continues without any confirmed results.
The fisherman Javier Robles summarized in November 2024 what has become a common sight along these shores: Isla Mujeres was turning into "a cemetery of abandoned rafts used by Cubans to reach Mexico."
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