Dozens of Cubans reported on Tuesday that they are stranded at the Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima, after missing a connection to Nicaragua via the airline Avianca, in order to begin their migration route to the southern United States.
According to a report by Miami-based media outlet Martí Noticias, they received communication from the Peruvian airport terminal about those affected. Thus, dozens of Cubans were stranded in Lima, Peru, due to the delay of an Avianca airline flight.
These passengers were in transit to Nicaragua, from where they planned to continue their migration route to the United States. Given this situation, it seems that all of them will have to return to Cuba, since the transit in Lima only allowed them to stay for 24 hours.
Cubans stranded in Peru on their way to Nicaragua
This incident adds to hundreds of other cases of Cuban passengers who were unable to leave the island, this time due to problems with the Dominican airline SKYhigh Dominicana.
“We are here, stranded in Peru, around 50 Cubans. We all had plane tickets with a final destination of Nicaragua, but due to a storm in Havana, our flight was delayed and we missed our connection,” said Cuban Midaisy Marrero Gil.
“The airline has not taken responsibility and has left us here. We have been at the airport for three days, sleeping on benches and suffering from the cold,” he added.
This woman denounced that Cubans are being “scammed” because “the airlines take all our money and kill our hopes of escaping Cuba. They sold us plane tickets without properly informing us of the restrictions and now they are not refunding our money.”
“If the airlines are under pressure to stop these flights, why did they sell me the ticket in the first place? They are robbing us. I have all the documents in order, but still, I can’t move forward,” he added. Meanwhile, Cubans remain stranded in Peru without knowing how to get to Nicaragua.
The United States is punishing, with severe sanctions, visa restrictions and fines, businessmen and airlines that engage in any way in migrant trafficking to Nicaragua, and many companies have stopped flying from Cuba.
Venezuelan airline Conviasa, which previously offered daily direct flights on the Caracas-Havana-Managua route, has significantly reduced its air connections to Nicaragua this July. This reduction in flights is leaving Cubans with fewer and fewer travel options. Currently, it is the only one with direct flights.
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