Four Cuban migrants, aged between 20 and 50, were the protagonists of a dramatic story of survival after spending over two months at the mercy of the waves, aboard a fragile raft in the turbulent waters of the Gulf of Mexico, before be rescued in serious conditions of malnutrition. The men were found by some fishermen near the coast of San Fernando, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, on the border with Texas.
According to unconfirmed versions, the migrants were accompanied by four other compatriots, who however died during the journey. The precarious vessel they were on left the Cuban coast on March 4.
The survivors initially tried to reach Cancun, on Mexico's Caribbean coast, but were dragged further away by sea currents. The four Cubans, who have since been transferred to hospital, suffer from “severe malnutrition and dehydration”, the doctors reported. Mexican authorities will now have to decide whether they will be deported once they are re-established, or whether they will be granted temporary asylum.