But Nicaragua has suddenly cracked down on Cubans arriving at the border, refusing to let them pass. Nicaragua’s government is socialist, and President Daniel Ortega is friendly with the Castro-run Cuban regime.
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Foreign Minister Manuel Gonzalez said in a radio interview that there must be a coordinated solution for the Cubans, who are now being blocked by Nicaraguan soldiers from entering the country.
Nicaragua’s government responded furiously on Sunday saying that Costa Rica “had deliberately and irresponsibly thrown, and continues to throw” the Cuban migrants into its territory, violating its national sovereignty.
A surge of around 2,000 Cuban migrants trying to cross Central America to reach the United States triggered a diplomatic spat between Costa Rica and Nicaragua on Monday, plunging tense relations between the two countries to a new low.
Cuban migrants told Reuters their only aim was to reach the United States, not stay in other countries.
The migrating Cubans fear that, as relations between the communist country and the US improve, the USA might stop granting Cubans the right to stay in the country. “We don’t want problems”, he said.
The number of Cubans trying to reach the United States has soared in recent months.
According to the victims, traffickers, called “coyotes” charged up to $15,000 to a few 1,600 Cubans to take them to the United States passing through Ecuador, Colombia and Panama and on to Central America and Mexico.
Ecuador does not require Cubans to obtain visas, so many begin their journey there.
Tortuguero Conservation Area Director Laura Rivera said aerial inspections of Isla Portillos – a disputed territory that’s now the subject of an global court case between Nicaragua and Costa Rica – show vegetation is growing over the artificial canals opened by Nicaraguan dredges.
Immigration chief Kattia Rodriguez said Cubans are being given the temporary visas and are being accepted into neighboring Nicaragua.
Left penniless and without necessary papers, around 1,000 of the Cubans ended up massed on the Costa Rican side of the border with Panama, having crossed over but unable to get past passport controls.
The military stepped up border surveillance to prevent further crossings, and the Nicaraguan government accused Costa Rica of “unleashing a humanitarian crisis with serious consequences for our region”.
In Cuba, where the government has not made any official comments over the migration ordeal, a group of about a dozen young adults gathered on a busy Havana intersection to demand officials address the situation early Tuesday evening.
Taylor and others convened after word spread online calling for “flashmob without borders” via social media.
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The demonstration quickly dispersed after it began to rain.
