English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
As of May, 8,029 Cubans have applied for asylum. Migration reports the irregular transit of 27,404 Cubans in five months 14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico City, 18 June 2024 — The authorities of Quintana Roo, in Mexico, freed 10 Cubans who were kidnapped last Friday. The victims, including a woman and nine men, said that armed … Continue reading “Mexico Frees 10 Cubans Kidnapped With Ransom Demands of $5,000”
Located in Guerrero, Lismailen Galbán Gil, 15, said that she left of her own free will 14ymedio, Mexico City, 16 June 2024 — Lismailen Galbán Gil was located this Saturday in the Mexican state of Guerrero. The young woman, 15 years old, told the authorities that “her absence was voluntary” and denied that she had … Continue reading “Mexican Police Find the Missing Young Cuban Woman and Return Her to Her Family”
14ymedio, Mexico City, 5 March 2024 — Yaileisy Asin Estévez died last Friday of a diabetic coma while waiting for a response to the CBP One appointment to fulfill the American dream. The information was spread by the influencer Niover Licea, who also mentioned the farewell letter that Faustino Betancourt Asin, the migrant’s brother, published on Facebook. Asin … Continue reading “A Cuban Woman Dies of a Diabetic Coma While Waiting for Her CBP One Appointment in Mexico”
14ymedio, Ángel Salinas. Mexico, 1 February 2024 — A group of 22 Cubans in an irregular situation – seven women and 15 men – was found this Wednesday in a house located in Tultepec (State of Mexico), where drugs were also sold. On their journey to the United States, “the migrants sought protection in this … Continue reading “The Mexican Police Find 22 Cubans in a Drug Trafficking House”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Tapachula, 15 February 2024 — Tens of thousands of Cubans remain stranded on the southern border of Mexico without receiving a response about their immigration procedures, stated the Center for Human Dignity (CDH), which defends migrants. Tapachula, on the border of Mexico with Guatemala, has become a “great funnel” and a “bottleneck” … Continue reading “Tens of Thousands of Cubans Are Stranded on Mexico’s Southern Border Hoping To Be ‘Regularized’”
14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico, 9 February 2024 — The fear of being imprisoned for expressing their dissatisfaction with the regime led Yadira San Martín Grillo, her husband William Rodríguez Acosta and their daughters, Yisel Esthefany and Yinelis Chantal, to leave the Island last year. This family, originally from Matanzas, arrived in Tapachula (Chiapas) on August … Continue reading “A Family From Matanzas Denounces the Indifference of the Mexican Authorities to Their Request for Refuge”
14ymedio/EFE, Mexico, 5 February 2024 — “Violations, sexual abuse, kidnappings and trafficking” is what thousands of migrants are exposed to as they pass through the border between Guatemala and Chiapas, in the south of Mexico, lawyer José Luis Pérez tells 14ymedio. On the way, some women are “kidnapped by drug cartels and forced into prostitution,” … Continue reading “Trafficking Networks Trap Cubans, Colombians and Venezuelans Through Emotional Bonds”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Tijuana, 27 January 2024 — Authorities on the northern border of Mexico warn that at least 8,000 migrants a month pay up to 40,000 dollars to coyotes (traffickers) for a “package of amparos” (protection orders) with the promise to protect them from deportation for free transit through the country. David Pérez Tejada, … Continue reading “Migrants Pay Up to $40,000 for Amparos – Protection Orders – To Reach the Northern Border of Mexico”
14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico, 4 January 2024 — The Mexican Refugee Aid Commission (COMAR) processed documents for 18,386 Cubans during 2023. All of them were part of the 140,982 migrants who requested documents for visitors for humanitarian reasons, which includes asylum cases. This is a “record figure,” the coordinator for COMAR, Andrés Ramírez Silva, told … Continue reading “More than 18,000 Cubans Requested Asylum in Mexico in 2023”
14ymedio/EFE, Mexico, December 25, 2023 — “Do you want to continue? You must pay 1,500 Mexican pesos (88 dollars),” said a Migration agent who withheld the passports of 13 Cubans on Monday at the checkpoint located in the municipality of Viva México (Chiapas). According to Zuselmi García López, they were traveling to join the caravan … Continue reading “A Group of 13 Cubans Denounces Migration Agents and Thwarts an Attempted Extortion in Mexico”
14ymedio, Havana, 15 October 2023 — This Sunday, relatives of Shakira Martínez received the body of the 21-year-old who died along with nine other Cuban women in a traffic accident on October 1 when the truck they were traveling in to reach the U.S. border was driven at excessive speed and overturned in Pijijiapan, in … Continue reading “The Bodies of Ten Women Who Died in an Accident in Mexico Arrive in Cuba”
14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico, 14 November 2023 — Despite numerous complaints, Mexico continues to extort money from migrants. On this occasion the victim was Mayelín Díaz Vargas, a Cuban. As attorney José Luis Pérez Jiménez told this newspaper, the woman was “coerced” by Jorge Rosalino Valencia, head of operational services of the immigration station of … Continue reading “Cuban Families Denounce Mexico’s Immigration Authorities for Deception and Extortion”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 5 November 2023 — A group of 105 Cubans arrived this Saturday in Havana on a flight from Mexico as part of an agreement between the two nations to return irregular migrants to their country of origin, the Ministry of the Interior (Minint) reported. The Cubans (70 men and 35 women) … Continue reading “Mexico Deports 105 Irregular Migrants to Cuba”
EFE/14ymedio, Palenque/Tapachula (Mexico)/Madrid | October 23, 2023 — The migration summit of Mexico and other Latin American countries concluded this Sunday with a joint statement that rejected “coercive measures,” promised to respect the human right to migrate and requested more legal alternatives for migration. “[We agree] to urge the countries of origin, transit and destination … Continue reading “The Mexico Summit Points Out That the Measures for Cubans and Others Stimulate Irregular Migration”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 October 2023 — Complaints from migrants and activists against Mexican Migration officials are multiplying. To the complaints on Monday that the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees (COMAR) gives erroneous information to Cubans about the documents they have to request, leading them to run the risk of being deported, are added several … Continue reading “Bribes and Robberies, the Complaints of Cubans Against Mexican Migration Officials Multiply”