Cuba keeps up "effective cooperation" to aid migrants in Costa Rica

Cuba keeps up "effective cooperation" to aid migrants in Costa Rica
Published November 23, 2015 EFE

Cuban authorities are providing "effective cooperation" to provide a
"quick, adequate solution" to the plight of more than 2,000 Cuban
emigrants who have been stranded for over a week in Costa Rica on the
Nicaraguan border, Cuba's official media said Monday.

The migrants ended up in Costa Rica after setting out from Cuba "with
the intention of emigrating to the U.S., encouraged by Washington
policies like the Cuban Adjustment Act, among others, which is a magnet
for irregular immigration," a foreign ministry official told the ACN
news agency.

Under Washington's "wet foot, dry foot" policy, Cubans who reach U.S.
soil are entitled to remain in the country and apply for legal permanent
residence.

"It all goes against the existing accords on the matter and is a sign
that migration is being used as a way to destabilize the island, while
at the same time it puts migrants at risk from mafias and smugglers,"
the Cuban official said.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez is expected to fly Tuesday to El
Salvador to meet with counterparts from Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua,
Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador for talks on the migrant issue.

Rodriguez flew to Ecuador and Nicaragua late last week to discuss with
their respective presidents, Rafael Correa and Daniel Ortega, the
situation of Cuban emigrants stranded on the Costa Rican-Nicaraguan border.

Since Nov. 14, Costa Rica has received on its border with Panama a wave
of Cuban emigrants determined to travel through Central America and
Mexico to the United States, with most of them setting out from Ecuador,
the only country in the region that Cubans can enter without a visa.

Costa Rica provided them with temporary transit visas, but on Nov. 15,
Nicaragua closed its border, where some 2,000 Cubans are currently
stranded in nine inns. EFE

Source: Cuba keeps up "effective cooperation" to aid migrants in Costa
Rica | Fox News Latino -
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2015/11/23/cuba-keeps-up-effective-cooperation-to-aid-migrants-in-costa-rica/