It falls to the Florida Keys
DEATHS RISE AS ARRIVALS CONTINUE
The rise in deaths coincides with a rise in migration from Cuba not seen in nearly a decade because of deteriorating political and economic conditions.
More people are willing to risk their lives at sea rather than to continue living under increasingly oppressive conditions and despair, Sebastian Arcos, associate director of Florida International University’s Cuban Research Institute, told the Miami Herald
“Cuba is under the worst economic crisis since 1959, generated by the sheer incompetence of the regime and its reluctance to engage in meaningful reforms, economic or otherwise,” Arcos said. “The repression unleashed after the massive public demonstrations in July 2021 is a major contributor to the desperation.”
The Coast Guard in fiscal year 2022, which ended in September, picked up 5,396 people at sea who were on their way to Florida. That’s the highest number in eight years. At the pace Cuban migrants are being intercepted so far since October — 2,755 — that number could triple by next September.
“The regime’s political legitimacy has collapsed, and Cubans know they have little to expect from them. Few have the resources to take the perilous and expensive trek through Central America to the U.S. border, where they have a better chance to be allowed in,” Arcos said.
“The trip across the Florida
is indeed dangerous, but shorter and less expensive. As long as the regime continues to
hold on to power while refusing to engage in meaningful reforms, the exodus will continue to grow.”
Meanwhile, the rush of migrants from Cuba and Haiti shows no signs of slowing. On Thursday, a group of 25 people
from Cuba landed on Sombrero Beach in Marathon on a makeshift boat made from weldedsteel fuel drums, said Adam Hoffner, division chief for U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Miami sector.
Although not as many boats from Haiti arrive in South Florida, the ones that make it carry dozens, and sometimes hunStraits
dreds of people. That country is seeing its largest exodus since the early 2000s, prompted by not only a dire economic and political climate, but also from a rise in extreme gang violence and fuel shortages.