Costa Rica has been joined on Monday by eight Latin American countries in calling on the United States to end its special treatment for Cuban migrants.
The Foreign Ministers of Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Costa RSica signed a letter, delivered by the Ecuadorean Foreign Minister to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, expressing their “deep concern” that U.S. policy toward Cuban migrants is creating a humanitarian crisis and encouraging “a disorderly, irregular and unsafe flow of Cubans.”
“Cuban citizens risk their lives, on a daily basis, seeking to reach the United States,” the letter says. “These people, often facing situations of extreme vulnerability, fall victim to mafias dedicated to people trafficking, sexual exploitation and collective assaults. This situation has generated a migratory crisis that is affecting our countries.”
U.S. State Department officials did not immediately comment.
Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel González said last week that the issue has cost the country millions of dollars it doesn’t have.
