Almost 3,200 migrants from the socialist Caribbean island of Cuba are stranded in Costa Rica, after neighbouring Nicaragua closed its border to prevent their passage to the United States through Central America. "The number of migrants grows day by day," a Costa Rican immigration official told dpa Tuesday. In recent weeks, the number of Cubans leaving for the US has grown. Given the current thaw in relations between Washington and Havana, many fear that Cubans will soon lose their privileges upon reaching US soil. According to current policies, any Cuban who reaches the US is allowed to stay and pursue permanent resident status. Most of the migrants left Cuba legally for Ecuador, which has welcomed them since last year. They then crossed Colombia and Panama and intended to keep moving north when Nicaragua prevented them from doing so. Nicaragua's leftist government says the Cubans en route to the US represent "an undignified, unsafe, disorderly and illegal migration that is affecting Cuba and is already affecting the Central American region. Nicaraguan authorities blame the whole episode on US policy regarding Cuban immigrants. "The Nicaraguan government ... will not contribute to legitimizing illegal policy," Rosario Murillo, Nicaraguan first lady and government spokeswoman, said Tuesday. Central American foreign ministers were meeting Tuesday in El Salvador with their counterparts from Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, as well as Cuba, to seek remedies to the crisis.
