Seven Cubans injured in the accident that occurred in Pijijiapan, in the Mexican state of Chiapas, where another 10 Cuban nationals died, denounce that they are not given medical attention or humanitarian visas. The public hospitals of Chiapas, says 14 intervene the lawyer José Luis Pérez Jiménez, “refuse” to receive the injured, including two children, who suffered first-degree burns and bruises after the incident. “They were only treated and were left at the mercy of the National Migration Institute (INM), which prevents them from leaving the state,” he adds.
According to the lawyer, these people are told that “there is no space in the hospitals, that there is little staff and that it is better that they seek private care.” The activist also told the consular authorities of the Island to forget these migrants, despite the fact that “the children Adam Jesús, six years old, and Andrea, one year old, have burns on their faces and require medical follow-up to avoid consequences.” “.
The mother of the minors, Lismaidy Portal Benacho, who also has facial injuries and lost two teeth in the accident, asked the doctors for help to transfer them to Mexico City, where they have confirmed that they could be treated in the hospital. Tacubaya Pediatric Hospital, La Villa Pediatric Hospital, Ajusco General Hospital and even the Michou y Mau Foundation, a non-profit organization for the assistance and prevention of children with severe burns, where they would be charged for the medical care provided. The response she received is for her to ask for support at her embassy.
“They were only treated and were at the mercy of the National Migration Institute (INM), which prevents them from leaving the state,” says the lawyer.
The staff of the Cuban Embassy remember that they were very active the first days. “They took good care of their forms. They took photos, the same ones they shared on their social networks to ensure that they were close to the injured, but on the fifth day, no one heard from them,” says lawyer Pérez Jiménez.
Lismaidy along with her children Adam Jesús and Andrea and her husband Leynier Valle Machado, share a room they rented in the center of Tapachula with other of the injured: Roberto Contino Fleitas with bruises on his body, Mayelin Díaz Vargas has burns on her right arm and Franlys Peña Sanabria with pain in his right side.
Contino Fleitas tells this newspaper that “the cargo truck came from the border with Guatemala,” where they boarded it to advance on their journey to the United States. Official versions indicate that 26 Cubans were traveling. However, Díaz Vargas assures that the transport “was packed with Cubans” and was driven at “extreme speed,” which is what caused the overturn and the migrants to be thrown away.
The Comar offices in Tapachula have carried out between January and September of this year 60,496 refugee procedures of the 113,000 registered in Mexico
Faced with fear of the deportation of 138 Cubans on a flight that left from Tapachula and the refusal of the delay in the procedures before the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees (Comar), these migrants sought advice to avoid being detained and admitted to the immigration station. XXI century.
The Comar offices in Tapachula have carried out between January and September of this year 60,496 refugee procedures out of the 113,000 registered in Mexico. A total of 12,777 Cubans have obtained proof of the start of the process, but due to the migratory flow, the response to this request is taking four months.
Franlys Peña says that they went to Comar and showed their need to remain in Mexico. “We explained to them that we cannot return to Cuba for fear of being taken prisoner. We are afraid, but they still did not agree to give us a humanitarian visa.”
The lawyer warned that Immigration has located this group of Cubans and they are on a transfer list to another state to be questioned about the incident in Pijijiapan.
Meanwhile, in Tapachula, groups of migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Honduras, Haiti, and Guatemala are organizing to leave at the end of this month, given the lack of safe passage to transit through Mexico to the border with the United States.
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