International

‘You lose hope’: Cuban exodus to US largest in island’s history

Photo: YAMIL LAGE / AFP

| By AFP | Gerard Martinez with Rigoberto Diaz in Havana |

Exhausted by “surviving instead of living” in Cuba, David Gonzalez set his sights on a new life in the United States.

In early 2022, he joined thousands of Cubans whose migration has amounted to the largest exodus in the Caribbean nation’s history.

Gonzalez, a 34-year-old barber, said he could no longer bear the hardships of a country going through its worst economic crisis since the 1990s, or the communist regime he had never embraced.

In Cuba, “you lose hope,” he told AFP from Miami, Florida, which he reached after a weeks-long odyssey across multiple countries.

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That hopelessness, shared by many young people in Cuba, has pushed emigration to the United States to the highest levels on record.

In the year from December 2021 to 2022, border authorities recorded more than 227,000 instances of Cubans illegally entering US territory.

That figure exceeds those of two previous mass departures: the Mariel boatlift, when 125,000 Cubans left for the United States in 1980, and the 1994 departure of 34,000 people to US shores within a month, said Jorge Duany, a Cuba expert at Florida International University.

‘My biggest fear’

Gonzalez’s journey started with a flight to Nicaragua.

The government of the Central American country, an ally of the Havana regime, removed visa requirements for Cubans in November 2021, making Managua the first stop on the road to the United States for most migrants from the island.

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The journey cost Gonzalez some $7,000: $3,500 for the airfare and another $3,500 for smugglers to take him overland from Nicaragua to the United States — a huge sum for the average Cuban salary of 3,768 pesos a month, about $157.

Gonzalez scrounged half the money by selling his motorcycle and other belongings. A friend sent him the rest from Miami.

From his 30-day trip through Central America and Mexico, he remembers above all the long rides with dozens of people crammed on a bus or in the back of a truck.

But it wasn’t the prospect of thirst, lack of air, unbearable heat during the day and biting cold at night that scared him the most on the journey.

“My biggest fear was that I would be deported to Cuba,” he said.

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Danger at sea

Others choose a different route to the United States no less rife with danger, risking their lives to travel the 90 miles (145 kilometers) of water that separates Cuba and Florida often in makeshift vessels.

On Christmas Day, 15 people were picked up in the Florida Keys, where dozens of Cubans arrive every week.

Mariana de la Caridad Fernandez made the journey in November.

The 20-year-old and her sister Yaneris, 31, had been sentenced in Cuba to four years of house arrest and seven years in prison respectively for participating in demonstrations that shook the country in July 2021.

Having been on the run in Cuba for a month, they decided to make for Miami, where their mother lives.

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The sea was calm during the 16-hour crossing with their dog, Toby, and 40 others packed into the boat.

“We panicked a bit when we arrived in the early hours of the morning and had to get off the boat and swim to get to land,” Fernandez said.

A border patrol immediately detained the sisters, but released them on parole, giving them temporary leave to stay in the country.

Aiming to apply for political asylum, they hope to legalize their status under the Cuban Adjustment Act, which allows Cubans to apply for residency a year and a day from when they entered the United States.

‘See a future’

Others haven’t been so lucky.

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Many who are picked up in boats by the US Coast Guard are quickly sent back to Cuba, unless they prove their lives are in danger.

Since October 1, the Coast Guard has detained over 3,700 Cubans, more than half the number taken into custody between October 2021 and the same month in 2022.

Then there are the untold numbers of Cubans who die at sea.

In April, a boat carrying 14 men capsized three days after departing Cuba. Only five managed to swim back to the island.

The nephew of Miriela, a Cuban woman who preferred not to give her last name, was one of those who disappeared in the wreck.

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“It pains us not knowing what happened to him,” she said.

For Gonzalez, the risks he took to reach Miami were worth it.

Now also on parole, he hopes to avoid deportation until he can try for residency via the Cuban Adjustment Act.

“In eight months I already have what I didn’t have in Cuba,” he said.

“It’s not just the material comforts, but that you can see a future.”

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International

Five Bodies Found in Ecuador as Police Probe Suspected Gang Turf War

Ecuadorian authorities are investigating the deaths of five people whose bodies were found inside a rural home, in what police believe may be linked to a territorial dispute between organized criminal groups.

The victims, aged between 21 and 30, were discovered Tuesday in the town of La Troncal, in the Andean province of Cañar. Police reported that two of the bodies were bound with wire, while a burned-out vehicle was found outside the residence.

Investigators said graffiti on the walls of the house included messages such as “Lobos territory” and “Lobos active,” suggesting a possible connection to the criminal organization known as Los Lobos.

Police believe the killings were likely the result of a conflict over territorial control between rival gangs.

The discovery came on the same day authorities arrested a former mayor in the neighboring province of Azuay. Officials identified him as the alleged main financial backer of Los Lobos, one of Ecuador’s most powerful criminal organizations.

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Ecuador has experienced an unprecedented surge in violence in recent years, driven by criminal groups involved in drug trafficking, illegal mining, kidnapping, and extortion.
According to Insight Crime, the country recorded 51 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025—equivalent to roughly one killing every hour—making it one of the most violent countries in Latin America.

International

Georgia Teen Sentenced to Life Without Parole for Deadly School Shooting

A Georgia teenager who killed four people in a 2024 school shooting was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to the attack.

Colt Gray, now 16, admitted to opening fire at Apalachee High School in Winder, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) northeast of Atlanta. He was 14 years old at the time of the shooting.

The attack claimed the lives of two students and two teachers, while nine other people were injured. Despite being a minor when the shooting occurred, Gray was prosecuted as an adult.

During the sentencing hearing, Judge Nicholas Trimm acknowledged the failures of the teenager’s family but said they did not excuse his actions.

“Your parents failed you. Your family failed you. But that does not absolve you,” the judge said.

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Trimm also rejected any suggestion that the shooting was motivated by bullying or personal grievances.

“You were not bullied at Apalachee. This was not driven by hate. You didn’t know anyone at that school. It was simply the desire to commit a notorious act,” he told Gray.

The case also led to the prosecution of the shooter’s father, Colin Gray, who was convicted in March of voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter. The case marked one of the first instances in which a parent was held criminally responsible for a mass shooting carried out by their child.

Prosecutors said Colin Gray had given his son an AR-15-style rifle as a Christmas gift in 2023, despite being aware that the teenager had previously threatened to carry out a school shooting.

Authorities said the same rifle was used in the attack less than a year later. Months before the shooting, FBI investigators had alerted local law enforcement after receiving reports of online messages linked to the Gray family’s internet address that referenced plans for a school massacre.

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The case reflects growing legal scrutiny in the United States over the responsibility of parents whose children commit acts of gun violence.

In a similar case, the parents of a Michigan teenager who killed four people at his high school in 2021 were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2024 and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 15 years.
According to U.S. health authorities, firearms have been the leading cause of death among children and teenagers in the United States for several years.

International

Portuguese Authorities Seize 2.6 Tons of Cocaine Worth More Than $550 Million in Drug Bust

Italian financial police reported Monday that Portuguese authorities intercepted a speedboat carrying more than 2.6 tons of cocaine, with an estimated street value exceeding $550 million.

Four people — two Spanish nationals, one Albanian citizen, and a man from Gibraltar — were arrested in connection with the operation, according to Italian authorities.

The vessel was intercepted off the coast of Lisbon by Portugal’s maritime police following an investigation led by Italian authorities.

Italian financial police estimated that the seized shipment had a street value of approximately 500 million euros ($570 million), making it one of the largest drug seizures reported in the region in recent years.

Portuguese authorities said the interception took place on Thursday, about 90 kilometers (50 nautical miles) southwest of Cape Espichel, during an operation targeting international drug trafficking routes.