The Cuban-American Dairo Alfonso Paes, one of the fishermen who sighted a group of rafters coming from the Island a few weeks ago near Key Westspoke about the experience he had when he found out that these had been returned to the Greater Antilles.
According to a video shared on his account TikTok On April 7, the incident occurred when Dairo and a group of friends went fishing near the coast of Florida, when some of them noticed a rustic boat approaching.
The information in the video states that the rafters, who were originally from Cuba, were only about three miles from the mainland.
Unable to help the Cubans because US law prohibits it, the group of fishermen limited themselves to giving them directions, hoping that the boat, made of wood and foam rubber, could reach Florida.
“Don’t stop, keep going, they’re coming! Don’t stop, damn it, keep going straight!”, the group can be heard saying.
A second recently shared video reveals that Dairo walked along the coast of Key West the next day to see if he could find the boat used by the 16 rafters, however, when he went through everything and could not find it, he realized that they did not manage to get there. to solid ground.
According to the Internet user, this type of news usually spreads quickly, so it seemed strange that no one mentioned anything.
“Nothing was ever said here in the key that some rafters had arrived, every time they arrive the ball is spread.”
After that, the fisherman learned of the arrest of a group of migrants near the coast, so he looked for news about it. This is how he was able to confirm that it was the same group, through photographs shared by various media outlets.
“I couldn’t help those people, I could throw water at them and things like that, but I couldn’t tow them or put them on my boat because they’d get into illegal human trafficking. The only thing I could do was encourage them and tell them to go straight, they were three miles away,” he declared in his second video.
video/7358143128458530090" data-video-id="7358143128458530090">@dairoalfonsopaes #balseros ♬ original sound – Dairo Alfonso Paes
Finally, Dairo was very sorry that the rafters were returned to the Island, where they risked so much to try to escape.
“I feel very sorry for the boys, who sent them back, to that dictatorship, that I know they are escaping from that regime that is destroying the Cuban people. (…) It made me sad to read the news that they were being turned back, but I couldn’t do anything other than encourage them.”
The return of the group was confirmed last Friday by the United States Coast Guard (USCG), which reported on 16 Cubans who were detained very close to the Florida Keys.
#Breaking @USCG Charles David Jr’s crew repatriated 16 migrants to Cuba, Friday, following an interdiction of a migrant venture near #KeyWestFlorida. #DontTakeToTheSea #NoTeArriesgues #OVS@USEmbCuba
Read more: pic.twitter.com/ER06IrfdHv— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) April 12, 2024
#Fisherman #spotted #Cuban #rafters #Florida #regrets #return
