Between April 19th and 21st, 2024, 248 Cuban citizens who had travelled to the Republic of Haiti on private business were transferred to Cuba. It was a coordinated operation by the Cuban authorities with the support of the Cuban Embassy in Haiti and the permanent accompaniment of officials from our diplomatic mission.
Since the beginning of March, the Cuban Embassy in Haiti remained in close contact with the Cuban citizens who were stranded there, as a consequence of the complex political situation in that country. It also communicated with other Cuban nationals residing in Haiti, watching over their safety and attending to their concerns, within the existing possibilities.
In addition, the offices of attention to the population of MINREX and the Presidency of the Republic assisted the families and relatives of the aforementioned citizens who established contact, either in person or virtually.
The Embassy carried out systematic negotiations with the airline Sunrise Airways, which transported the Cuban citizens to Haiti, with which it agreed to keep open the option of returning them to Cuba in its aircrafts, once the conditions to do so were created.
Due to the fact that the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince has remained closed, it was not possible to guarantee their departure by that route.
The Cuban authorities waited for the best moment to carry out this operation, in order to guarantee conditions that would allow for a safe return to the homeland. Other alternatives, including heliborne operations, were not feasible due to the large number of people involved.
The Cuban Embassy coordinated the voluntary departure of Cuban citizens by land to the city of Cap-Haïtien, where limited international flight operations are maintained.
The Cuban State covered the cost for this unique operation for all the stranded Cubans who voluntarily opted for this alternative. Our compatriots returned to the national territory through the international airports Ignacio Agramonte from Camagüey and Antonio Maceo de Santiago of Cuba, in 6 flights of the Sunrise Airways airline, which which was committed to transport the Cuban citizens.
(Cubaminrex)