Mexico rescues 18 Cuban adrift in flimsy boat

Mexico rescues 18 Cuban adrift in flimsy boat

MEXICO CITY: The Mexican Navy rescued 18 Cubans adrift in the Caribbean Sea on a flimsy vessel that was blown off course in a failed bid to reach Florida, the immigration department has said.

A one-year-old baby was among the passengers in the boat, spotted floating off the Isla Mujeres island near the resort of Cancun on Friday.

''A boat spotted them and passed this information on to the Navy, which rescued them,'' said a spokeswoman for Mexico's immigration institute in Cancun.

The Cubans left their homeland on December 27 in a bid to reach the United States, the spokeswoman said yesterday.

They had no documentation with them, she said.

The Cubans, including three women, were taken on Sunday to a detention center in the city of Chetumal and were determined to be in good health.

The US Coast Guard intercepted several thousand Cubans in the Straits of Florida last year who risked their lives trying to sail to the United States illegally in precarious vessels.

The immigrants, known as ''rafters,'' have increasingly tried to sail to Mexico in recent years. Mexico usually sends them back to Cuba, often after months in detention centers.

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