Yariel Alfonso Puerta, the Cuban model who was intercepted on her way to the US, has received asylum in Canada after spending nearly a year held at the Guantanamo Naval Base.
According to Cuban journalist Mario J. Benton, the 27-year-old rafters will have a new chance to make a decent life abroad.
According to the information published by the interviewer, Alfonso Puerta tried to escape from the island in 2022, tired of the oppression and lack of freedoms that Cuba is experiencing.
Likewise, he left the country in an improvised boat to avoid becoming another political prisoner, as he was facing a six-year prison sentence for his participation in the 9/11 demonstrations in Matanzas.
He recounted that after leaving the island, the boat collided with Cuban guards, but his mother, who was in contact with him via a video call, threatened to denounce the oppressors on social media, so they decided to let them go.
However, days later they were intercepted by the United States Coast Guard (USCG). After passing his credible fear interview, Alfonso Puerta was transferred to Guantanamo Naval Base, where he stayed for 11 months.
During that time, the rafters lived a relatively normal life, enjoying food, medical care, and basic amenities that were hard to come by on the rest of the island.
The Cuban admitted that although he did not expect to be granted asylum in Canada, he was grateful and excited, so he planned to use this opportunity to start over.
After arriving in Canada, the rafters plan to work, reunite with his son, and eventually get his mother off the island.
The young man also confirmed that he was grateful to the Cuban community in exile, as they fought to prevent him from returning to the island, where he would have ended up in prison.
Similar situation in Mexico
The local press reported on the Yousufani Hernandez Sori case, A young man left the island and spent 25 days at sea before finding refuge in Cancun, Quintana Roo state..
The young man indicated that his boat was carrying old people and children, and that they had spent five of those twenty-five days without food. Luckily for them, they were discovered by Mexican fishermen who notified the authorities.
Now, the young man works as a security guard in a shopping mall, and remarks that he is happy living in the Aztec region, where he does not have to watch what he says for fear of being suppressed by the authorities.
“I love Cancun, Mexico provides us with opportunities. It is a free country where you can freely express political ideas. In Cuba, expressing your opinion makes you discriminated against.” DNA 40.
