Miami

Foreign Ministers Discuss Fate of Cubans at Nicaragua Border

South Florida Cuban-Americans are showing support for thousands of Cubans in Costa Rica trying to make their way to the United States.

A meeting in El Salvador wrapped up Tuesday evening to determine their fate and the foreign minister delivered a statement about the meeting, which lasted several hours.

"Our governments do not have the resources to deal with this new threat to our national security,'' the Nicaraguan government said in a statement, suggesting that the wave could facilitate terrorism or migrants from other countries.

The statement also criticized the Cold-War era U.S. policies that allow the Cubans special status as migrants. Nicaragua's leftist government has warm ties with Cuba.

Costa Rica, meanwhile, accused Nicaragua of scuttling a chance for a "regional and humanitarian solution'' to the problem. It has proposed creating a humanitarian corridor through the region for the migrants.

"Nicaragua repeatedly blocked any proposal to solve the problem, without presenting any solution other than blockade and intransigence,'' Costa Rica's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel Gonzalez said "I regret the lack of results from this long day of work,'' adding that it was "a little discourahing for the thousands of people who have been waiting for an answer.''

All of this began approximately ten days ago when the Nicaraguan government prohibited the entry of Cubans into their country, leaving thousands in limbo.

While the number of Cubans making their way to the Costa Rican border with Nicaragua increases, dozens of local Cubans hope Central American officials come to a solution.

"The root of the problem is the Cuban regime not opening up to its own people," said Ramon Saul Sanchez, Democracy Movement.

Parents of children stranded at the border were among the protesters outside Miami's Nicaraguan Consulate General Tuesday afternoon.

Jose Raul Gonzalez is hopeful his son will soon reunite with him in Miami so he can have a better future.

More than 3,000 Cubans involved in the crisis see the United States as their final destination. Foreign ministers from Cuba, Ecuador, Colombia and Central American countries gathered to come up with a plan.

Costa Rican officials proposed a humanitarian corridor that would protect their rights as they travel north.

"If one of the solutions is to shut down the entrance through Ecuador, the Cubans will not say, 'Okay, I'm not going to be afraid of Raul Castro, I'm going to remain here.' They will take out to the ocean," said Sanchez, a human rights advocate.

Sanchez also said Latin American officials should not only focus on a short term solution. He believes the long term problem is not the Cuban Adjustment Act, rather the Castro regime.

"You can have a million Cuban Adjustment Acts. If they have freedom in Cuba, Cubans will remain on the island," Sanchez said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has said it currently has no plans to change its immigration policies with regard to Cuba.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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