The southern route to la Yuma

The Herald’s Cuban Colada has the latest figures on Cubans entering the United States via the Mexican border: 7,267 in fiscal year 2005, 8.639 in 2006, 11,487 in 2007, and 8.829 in 2008, with two months left in the fiscal year, which ends September 30. By comparison, the United States admits about 20,000 Cubans annually, in various visa categories, through the U.S. consulate in Havana.

Cuba and Mexico have been negotiating a migration accord, and according to La Jornada, talks will resume this month with an eye to signing an agreement in September. An apparent sticking point, the article says, has to do with repatriation: Cuba is reportedly willing to accept those that arrive in Mexico directly from Cuba, but is not willing to accept those that travel to Mexico from third countries. The article says that Cubans arriving from third countries are “the largest part of the flow of illegal migrants from the island.”

Part of the flow of Cuban migrants to the United States, both through Mexico and directly across the Straits, involves smuggling operations, This Herald story tells how the Feds are cracking down on these operations in south Florida. And it shows how the smugglers operate; in one case, smugglers demanded payment from a Miami family before they would turn over the relatives they had brought from Cuba. They now face charges for both alien smuggling and hostage taking.