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Castaway rescued off Yucatán, identified by a platform as a Cuban rafter

A man was rescued alive on October 19 some 352 kilometers northeast of the port of Progreso, in Yucatán, according to Mexico's Ninth Naval Zone cited by local media. The platform NiO Reportando Un Crimen identifies him as Fermín Izquierdo, from Mantua, Pinar del Río, one of six Cubans who set out for Mexico; the other five are still missing.

The rescue took place on October 19 about 190 nautical miles, or 352 kilometers, northeast of Progreso: a container ship assisted the castaway and staff from the Yucalpetén Search and Rescue Station took him aboard a Defender-class boat, according to the newspaper 24 Horas and the Diario de Yucatán, which cited the Ninth Naval Zone. He was treated at the Yucalpetén Naval Hospital for dehydration and injuries from prolonged exposure to the sun and the sea, was left in stable condition and was handed over to the custody of the National Institute of Migration, with the authorities giving no word on a decision about his immigration status.

The identification has not been confirmed by the authorities: the platform NiO Reportando Un Crimen places him among the six travelers who left Mantua and attributes the name to journalist José Raúl Díaz Barrios, while the Mexican outlets consulted described the rescued man only as a foreign citizen, without publishing his name or his nationality. The whereabouts of the other five occupants are unknown and there is no verified information about what happened during the crossing.

The case involves a group separate from the 11 Cuban rafters who arrived in Quintana Roo this month on two boats, a couple and nine other travelers, as Pedro Murillo Garay, head of the Puerto Juárez Regional Harbor Master's Office, confirmed to 14ymedio. Between September and October seven abandoned boats were removed from the Nichupté Lagoon and the harbor master's office has 28 more in abandonment proceedings, some of them used by Cubans. The migrants were placed in the custody of the National Institute of Migration, which decides whether an assisted return to Cuba is appropriate.

The routes the travelers themselves mention include departures from the Isle of Youth toward Cancún and crossings from Pinar del Río bound for Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen and the Sian Ka'an reserve, according to municipal police officer Dagoberto Canul, who attributes the rise in clandestine arrivals to the closing of the US border. In Chiapas, the body of Alside, a 25-year-old Cuban who disappeared after going into the sea at Playa Linda, was found on Tuesday at Puerto Madero, Tapachula; his father said he was swept away by the current and that they were in the state for immigration paperwork.

Sources: Infobae · Periódico Cubano · 14ymedio

Data updated: 2026-10-22T17:15:00.000Z

Castaway rescued off Yucatán, identified by a platform as a Cuban rafter | Yamacoa Observatory