Cuban migrant wave prompts Nicaraguan military to seal border

Nicaragua has been met with thousands of migrants at its southern borders, after Costa Rica granted seven-day transit visas to over 1,700 Cubans it had initially detained for illegally entering the country through Panama on Saturday.

Now, ties between the Central American neighbours risk plummeting to lows not seen since 1979, when leftist Sandinista rebels overthrew the US-backed Nicaraguan government and installed a junta led by Daniel Ortega - who since 2007 is back as the country's elected president.

 Cuban migrants told Reuters their only aim was to reach the United States, not stay in other countries.

 Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel Gonzalez criticised Nicaragua's response as "totally irresponsible" and said that "people will use any means to reach their destination", referring to heightened concerns of their use of human trafficking organisations. Now that the U.S. and Cuba are finally restoring ties, residents of the Caribbean island fear American officials will start treating them like all other undocumented immigrants and turn them back.

The Cuban government said it was in constant contact with the countries involving trying to find a "rapid and adequate" solution to the brewing crisis that "takes into consideration the well-being of the Cuban citizens".

Over 1,000 Cubans have been stuck in Costa Rica since Sunday when Nicaragua sent in the army to push back about 800 who had crossed the border post at Peñas Blancas. "I don't think Nicaragua is ever going to let us through". "We don't want problems", he said.

Here is an opportunity for the Cuban Connection GOP presidential candidates - Rubio, Cruz, and Jeb - to show a few genuine leadership and call for immediate abolition of Cubans' dry foot - wet foot immigration privileges before the upcoming Cuban Camp of the Saints gets fully in gear.

reported that Nicaragua's military had increased border security to prevent further crossings by Cuban migrants.

Several said that this fresh wave of migrants is being fueled by growing rumors in Cuba that the U.S. Cuban Adjustment Act will be ending in the new year. "We're a group of human beings trying to achieve their dream: arrive in the United States". President Bill Clinton later modified it to only include Cubans who touched dry land, not those intercepted in U.S. waters, a policy known as "wet-foot, dry-foot".

By late afternoon, the police confirmed in a press release that "special forces carried out the operation, with the result that the Cuban migrants were returned to Costa Rican territory from which they had come".

"We emphatically denounce the Government of Costa Rica for violation of our national sovereignty and for breach of its obligations as a State participating in global mechanisms on respect for sovereign borders and the rights of those who go from one country to another", said Murillo. They then make their way through Central America and Mexico.

About 300 Cubans are expected to arrive at Costa Rica's southern border each day.