Cuba says 141 Haitian migrants stranded on south coast #Cuba #Haitian #migrants #stranded #south coast Welcome to OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
HAVANA (AP) – A group of 141 Haitian migrants have been stranded on Cuba’s southern coast, Cuban authorities said on Saturday, as part of a series of large-scale efforts by Haitians to flee their troubled nation.
The official Cubadebate website said the group that arrived on Friday at La Tatagua beach in the central province of Cienfuegos included 22 children and several pregnant women.
It said they had departed from Gonave Island, west of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, eight days earlier. Migrants said they had hoped to reach Miami but were blown off course by bad weather.
Cubadebate said the group received medical attention and was taken to a youth camp.
In late May, 842 Haitians were rescued from a boat off the north coast of Cuba, where they had been abandoned by smugglers.
Ocean currents and winds are causing some smuggler ships trying to reach the United States to land on Cuban shores. Not all arrivals are officially reported, although authorities in Havana have acknowledged an increase in arrivals in recent months.
This week, US officials said at least five Haitian migrants drowned and 68 others were rescued after a suspected people-smuggling boat dropped the group off in waters off an uninhabited island west of Puerto Rico.
That came just days after authorities in the Bahamas recovered the bodies of 17 migrants and 25 more after their boat capsized.
A growing number of Haitians are fleeing their countries as gangs become more powerful after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021.