Nearly 2,800 Cubans Have Tried To Reach The US Coast Since October

Havana/A total of 2,796 Cubans have tried to or have arrived in the United States by the maritime route in the first eight months of the 2015 fiscal year, according to figures from the US Coast Guard (USCG) published by Martí Noticias.

The statistics, covering the time between October 1, 2014 and June 22, 2015, equals 76% of the number of Cubans who tried in the previous fiscal year (3,677) and includes operations of interception and disruption conducted in the Strait Florida, the Caribbean and the Atlantic, and the so-called “dry feet” that touched American soil.

The figure, published by Martí Noticias is an increase of 84 people compared to those reported by the by the USCG on June 18, when the repatriation of 32 rafters intercepted between June 6 and 10 was reported.

Back in October, the Coast Guard demonstrated concern about the increase in Cuban rafters arriving on the coast of Florida, which some Miami voices call a “silent exodus.”

A total of 3,940 migrants were intercepted at sea or managed to touch land in the 2013/2014 fiscal year, double those recorded in 2012 (2,129 Cubans) and even higher with respect to those of prior years: 2011 (1,870 Cubans), 2010 (1,976 Cubans) and 2009 (1.740 Cubans).

However, in fiscal years 2007 and 2008 a total of 7,866 Cubans and 5,766, respectively, attempting to arrive by sea to the United States, much higher than the figures of the last fiscal year.