US Coast Guard repatriates over 100 Cubans

Tuesday, November 9, 2004

MIAMI, USA (AFP): The US Coast Guard announced Monday it had repatriated over 100 Cubans interdicted at sea on their way to Florida.

The 98 migrants and nine alleged smugglers, who were found at sea between October 30 and November 3, were taken to Bahia de Cabanas, Cuba on Saturday.

Two of the go-fast vessels smuggling the Cubans were found drifting in the Florida Straits and another was towing a disabled boat.

Another 13 migrants found on three homemade rafts were to be turned over to immigration officials at the US Navy base in Guantanamo, Cuba, for further processing, the Coast Guard said.
"In each case, it would have taken only one change in the situation for these voyages to have become deadly tragedies," said Captain Robert Hurst, US Coast Guard chief of operations in Miami.

"Whether clinging to a raft in busy shipping lanes, maneuvering recklessly to avoid law enforcement authorities, or putting your trust in the hands of ruthless smugglers, ultimately you are putting yourself at the mercy of others, either criminals or Mother Nature."
So far this year, the US Coast Guard has interdicted 10,899 migrants, most of them from Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and 1,225 from Cuba.

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