Costa Rica proposes humanitarian corridor for Cuban migrants

Authorities re-opened the border Monday morning to tourists and merchants, while the Cuban migrants waited in shelters in Costa Rica.

According to the local newspaper “La Prensa”, the group of 1,917 Cubans of all ages “forcibly entered Nicaragua at Peñas Blancas” and managed to advance about ten kilometers until they were stopped by a roadblock of riot police that fired rubber bullets and launched tear gas.

In a statement aired on the government’s nightly broadcast, Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Relations said US policy allowing almost all Cuban migrants who reach USA soil to stay contradicts ongoing efforts to renew relations between the countries.

Nicaragua has turned back hundreds of Cuban migrants which it accuses of “storming” its border crossing from neighbouring Costa Rica on Sunday.

But with U.S.-Cuban relations improving since last December’s detente, Cuban migration to United States has increased as Cubans anticipate a possible end to the preferential treatment.

Although being threatened with dangers such as deportation and being barred once again, the Cuban migrants say they that they will only remain resilient in making their way to the U.S. They added that going back home to Cuba and an uncertain future is never an option.

Costa Rica’s foreign minister, Manuel González, described the Nicaraguan statement as “offensive” and “unjustified” at a press conference on Monday.

The row boiled over this past weekend when Nicaragua forcibly sent back the Cubans, who had been given temporary visas by Costa Rica to traverse its territory, ignoring an appeal by San Jose that they be given a “humanitarian corridor” through the region.

 Cubans report they are leaving their country for economic and social reasons. Cuban migrants have historically used Central America as a land bridge to the US, where under current law they are usually offered the chance to apply for residency after a year.

Rather than risk crossing the Florida Straits by boat, where the US Coast Guard can send them back, they are increasingly flying to places like Ecuador, which has no visa restrictions on Cubans.

Numerous Cubans stuck in Costa Rica were stranded when the country busted a human trafficking ring that was charging $7,000 to $15,000 to smuggle them into the United States.

“When other countries take the irresponsible decision to close their borders, people will use any means to reach their destination”, he said.

The standoff between Costa Rica and Nicaragua has exacerbated ties already strained by border disputes.

Costa Rican officials called the issue of the migrants a “humanitarian crisis” whose solution lay in regional treaties recommending facilitated passage for Cubans headed to the United States. The Nicaraguan news site 19 Digital reported on Tuesday that commerce and transport was still being seriously affected by “the capriciousness of the Costa Rican government trying to force illegal Cuban migrants into Nicaragua”.

The Cubans are travelling north, trying to reach the United States by land.