Five rafters drowned in a 'collision' with Cuban border guards

Five drowned rafters is the first balance of the

, according to the note from the Ministry of the Interior broadcast this Saturday by Cuban television.

Eighteen people were rescued alive, according to the authorities, who accuse the pilot of the speedboat of violating Cuba's territorial sea and participating in a

. "

The victims are three women, a man and a minor.

"As a result of the collision, the offending boat turned," the statement said.

The Ministry of the Interior immediately blamed "the hostile and cruel policy of the United States Government against Cuba, which tolerates and

by allowing irregular migrants to remain in its territory. The economic blockade causes enormous difficulties for the population and it becomes one of the main incentives that generate this type of action".

The sinking occurred north of

(Artemisa province), when the boat was transporting rafters to the United States in the midst of a migratory wave that in just one year, after the popular rebellion of July 11, has caused the

.

From the exile media, the coastguard has been blamed for sinking, once again, a boat that was trying to flee from the island.

Any escape route is good to get off the island, in addition to the traditional rafts, the speedboats that arrive from the north or the plane trip to Nicaragua and the subsequent odyssey to Río Bravo.

In the United States, the land trip of an elderly couple, he 82 years old and his wife, 73, reached great repercussion.

.

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