Renewed hope for US-bound Cubans stuck in Central America

In this Nov. 21, 2015 file photo, a Cuban woman migrant uses her cell phone while other Cubans sleep, outside of the border control building in Penas Blancas, Costa Rica, on the border with Nicaragua which closed its borders to Cuban migrants. AP File Photo

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala—Central American states and Mexico on Wednesday agreed to maintain a flight-and-bus corridor for thousands of Cubans marooned in Costa Rica to make it to the United States.

READ: After ordeal, US-bound Cubans enter Mexico

Migration officials from the countries said in a joint statement after a meeting in Guatemala City that they were moving to the “second phase” of a plan started last week with a trial journey by 180 Cubans.

Some 7,600 other Cubans are in Costa Rica waiting to make the journey, which involves a flight from Costa Rica to El Salvador—skipping over Nicaragua, a Cuban ally which has closed its border to them—then buses through Guatemala to Mexico.

READ: Cuban migrants to fly out of Costa Rica next week

From there they are to make their own way to the US border. Under a US law dating back to the Cold War, Cubans fleeing their communist-ruled island are admitted and given access to fast-track American residency.

Costa Rica’s foreign ministry said the second phase would see two flights a day put on for 14 weeks starting February 4.

Cuban migrants able to pay the $555 cost of the trip themselves and those in family groups are being given priority. The International Organization for Migration is overseeing the process.

Some 2,000 other Cubans are stuck in Panama, blocked there after Costa Rica in December refused to take in any more.

The Panamanian government said it is looking for a way to move nearly half of them closer to the United States.