More than 800 Haitian migrants, including several children and a baby, who were traveling on a cargo ship with the intention of migrating to the United States, landed on Wednesday on the coast of Caibarién, in the province of Villa Clara (central Cuba), after be abandoned by the captain of the boat, according to local media reports.
The official newspaper of the Communist Party,
Granma,
assures that a total of 842 people were on the ship, to whom the Cuban authorities offered "medical attention and humanitarian aid."
The group was temporarily housed at the Sierra Morena camping base, while the government established contact with the Haitian authorities "to ensure the safe and voluntary return of these people to their country,"
Punta de Maisí, at the eastern end of Cuba, is separated from Haiti by 77 km of the Paso de los Vientos sea strait, whose strong currents frequently divert Haitian emigrant boats and cause them to capsize or sink in Cuba, especially in the Guantanamo province, reports the AFP agency.
Last February, another group of 292 Haitian migrants arrived in Ciego de Ávila province, also in central Cuba, after the boat they were sailing in drifted at sea, according to the provincial newspaper Invasor.
According to
The Miami Herald
, if the ship had reached Florida, its destination would have been the largest landing of Haitian migrants recorded to date.
In March, a similar boat with 356 Haitians reached the coast of Key Largo, in the Keys of southeastern Florida, which surprised US immigration authorities.
Since early October, the US Coast Guard has detained more than 5,000 Haitians trying to reach US territory illegally.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas.
The series of political crises and natural disasters it has suffered in recent years has pushed a massive exodus of its citizens to other countries in the region in search of opportunities.
Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS América newsletter and receive all the key information on current affairs in the region.