Panama to transfer 3,400 stranded Cuban migrants to Mexico

Panama will begin on Monday to transfer to Mexico some 3,400 U.S.-bound Cuban migrants that have been stranded without papers on the Panamanian territory, local media reported Sunday.

"The transfer of thousands of Cubans stranded in the province of Chiriqui is expected to begin on Monday," the daily La Prensa reported Sunday, referring to the country's western province that borders Costa Rica to the west.

The first group of 250 Cubans will be flown via charter flights of Panama's Copa Airlines to a Mexican city bordering the United States, according to the daily La Estrella.

The Panamanian authorities were processing the necessary paperwork and health certificates "to prepare these people for their voyage, first to Mexico, and then to the United States," La Prensa said.

Jose Donderis, director general of Panama's National Civil Protection System, told La Prensa that the Cuban migrants must pay for their air tickets.

The migrants have been trapped in Chiriqui for more than five months, "waiting to fulfill their 'American dreams,'" La Prensa said.

The sudden wave of migrants prompted small Central American nations to contain the potential humanitarian crisis and condemn skewed U.S. immigration laws regarding Cubans.

As a way of embarrassing the Cuban government, the United States has long woo disaffected Cubans with fast-track residency and other privileges, which some fear will end along with the rapprochement between the two countries since last year.

However, Washington has said it will not change its immigration policy. Endi