Two Cuban pilots made an aerial feat to reach Florida. Now his family begs not to deport them

Relatives of the two Cuban pilots who did an aerial feat over the weekend to reach Florida – they crossed the ocean aboard a motorized hang glider – ask the United States authorities not to deport them: in Cuba they are considered “pilots deserters” and could go to jail “just for seeking freedom.”

David López Alfonso and Ismael Hernández Chirino arrived at the international airport in Key West, in the Florida Keys, on Saturday at 10:30 am after taking off some two hours earlier from the north coast of Cuba, in the Tarará Residential Community.

They traveled in an ultralight aviation equipment of the 'Trike' type, with registration CU-U-1619, which is used in Cuba for air sports in the tourism sector on the east coast of Havana, according to information from the Cuban Aviation Club. . 

The hang glider with a motor in which the Cuban pilots traveled.

Telemundo 51

"

, but it turned out wonderfully well and they are fine," said Yaneisy, López Alfonso's wife, in an interview with Telemundo 51, a local Telemundo News.

The woman only asks "that they not be deported" to the island.

Relatives reported that they were unaware of the pilots' plan, and the news that they had decided to venture out in a small plane caused them surprise and concern.

Now, the local authorities are after the youths, who could go to prison "for life," Yaneisy said, "just for seeking freedom."

"The government is making complaints and the Aviation Club too," said Yaneisy. 

The Aviation Club indicated in a statement that the US authorities informed it of the arrival of the pilots, before which a complaint was filed and the return of the equipment was requested.

“In clear violation of Cuban airspace.

And in an act classified as robbery, the act is carried out by the deserting pilots, ”he indicated. 

"If they are returned to the problem that they are going to look for, there is no word, it is not compared to anything. The problem that they are going to look for is going to be gigantic, they will never be able to be

," he warned. his part to Telemundo 51 Laura Hernández Chirino, Ismael's sister, who says that their parents are not in a position to talk about what happened.

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The pilots were detained after arriving in the United States, as confirmed by police sources.

Both were turned over to the Border Patrol, but at least one of them would already be in a Broward Detention Center this Monday.

The wife of David López Alfonso reported that the pilots have not been able to develop their profession for a long time.

"Here they were without work, and that was the only thing they did, they were commercial flight pilots," she told Telemundo 51.

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Laura Hernández Chirino, Ismael's sister, also explained that the young people "made commercial flights for tourism and with some Cubans who could afford it."

Before flying to the United States, they were in a house in Tarará, a town east of Havana, waiting to be able to fly commercial again. 

Due to its proximity to Cuba, the tourist island of Key West, like the rest of the Florida Keys, is the destination for many of the rudimentary boats aboard which Cubans leave their country, but arrivals by air are not common. .

In fiscal year 2022 (from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022), a total of 6,182 Cuban migrants were intercepted in the waters of the Florida Straits, a figure well above the 838 detained in the previous fiscal year. , according to data released by the EFE Agency.

These requirements must be met by Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans to enter the US.

Jan 6, 202301:44

So far this fiscal year, some 5,900 Cubans have been intercepted, a high number considering the same period of the previous year.

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Cubans have also been arriving in record numbers since 2021 at the southern land border with Mexico.

Since January they have a humanitarian program that allows beneficiaries to enter and work in the US for two years if they have a sponsor who is financially responsible for them.