A group of some 100 Cuban migrants being housed in a shelter in San Ramon de Alajuela were threatening to begin a hunger strike and take over the city’s central park on Friday, CRHoy.com reports.

The migrants are apparently upset at the slow pace and high cost – US $555 each – of scheduled airlifts to transport the migrants around Nicaragua to El Salvador from where they will continue their journey through Mexico to the US border by bus.

In addition to the slow pace of the flights, many migrants complain they no longer have the funds to pay for the flights after months trapped in Costa Rica.

Some 8,000 Cuban migrants had been stranded in Costa Rica since mid-November of last year when Nicaragua closed its border to the Cubans and refused them passage through its territory.

Central American nations agreed in late December to a plan to fly the Cubans from Costa Rica to El Salvador, from where they will continue their journey via bus through Mexico to the United States border. The first flight under the plan occurred in January, with 180 migrants on board. A second group of 184 migrants were flown from Costa Rica last week.

Officials have previously estimated it will take a total of 28 flights to transport all of the Cubans out of Costa Rica. Six more flights are scheduled for this month.

 

Costa Rica government announces direct flights to Mexico

On Friday, the Costa Rican government announced a new agreement that will provide direct flights for the migrants from Costa Rica to Mexico as an alternative to the current route through El Salvador.

“We are pleased to announce that the governments of Costa Rica and Mexico have agreed to carry out direct flights to make travel easier for Cuban migrants,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Costa Rican government said the flight will cost migrants US $790 each and will be an alternative to the other current travel arrangement, which consists of a flight to El Salvador followed by land transport to the Guatemala-Mexico border, which costs US $555.

For the flights to Mexico, authorities will give priority to families with children.

Once in Mexico, the Cubans must travel by their own means to the United States.

Under the United States law known as the Cuban Adjustment Act – a policy put in place during the Cold War and commonly referred to as the “wet foot, dry foot” policy – Cuban nationals are allowed to remain in the United States after touching US soil.

EFE contributed to this report.