TEGUCIGALPA – A small boat carrying 23 Cubans attempting to reach the United States went off course and landed on Honduras’ Caribbean coast, officials said Wednesday.
The boat arrived Tuesday in Truji-llo, 400 kilometers (250 miles) northeast of Tegucigalpa, the capital. It left Santa Cruz, in southern Cuba, on Feb. 2.
Police said the 19 men and four women aboard the 7.6-meter (25-foot) boat ran out of gas and landed in Honduras.
“We were hoping to arrive in the United States, but the rains and strong winds sent us to Honduras,” refugee Maritza González told Channel 5 television. “We were on the high seas – wet, lost and without food or fuel.”
Thirteen other Cubans, including three children, two women and eight men, arrived Jan. 8 in La Ceiba, 350 kilometers (220 miles) northeast of Tegucigalpa, after their boat’s motor failed.
More than 530 Cubans have sought refuge in Honduras in the past two years, according to government statistics.
Honduras normally grants the refugees permission to remain in the country temporarily, and they generally head to the United States from Central America.
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