Nicaraguan government blocks key pathway used by Cuban migrants to reach United States

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaragua’s government on Sunday blocked Cuban citizens from entering the country without a visa, effectively cutting off a key route for Cuban migration to the United States at a time when the Trump administration has put the Caribbean island in an economic chokehold.

Nicaragua’s government confirmed to The Associated Press that it suspended an exemption that allows Cubans to enter the Central American nation without a visa.

The move would effectively cut off Cubans from a country that has long acted as a bridge for Caribbean migrants traveling to the U.S. For years, Cuban migrants would fly to Nicaragua and meet up with smugglers, who would then help them migrate north through Central America and Mexico to get to the U.S. border.

Experts say Nicaragua kept its doors open to people from countries like Cuba and Haiti in a move to weaponize migrants fleeing turmoil against its longtime adversary, the U.S.

But the change comes amid mounting pressure by Trump administration on Latin American nations to fall in line with its vision for the hemisphere, particularly on issues like migration and security.

After a U.S. military operation deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in early January, the Trump administration began to step up pressure, particularly on adversary governments like Cuba and Nicaragua.

At the end of January, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries that provide oil to Cuba, thrusting the island into an even deepen economic and energy crisis that’s likely to fuel even more migration from a nation that has seen record numbers of people leaving in recent years.

As the Trump administrations carries out a contentious migratory crackdown and largely eliminated access to asylum along the southern border, migration to the U.S. has hit record lows, but the new rules in Nicaragua would put up extreme new barriers for Cuban migrants who hope to reach the U.S. in the future.

What remains is primarily Guyana, a small South American nation where Cubans have also traveled to in order to reach the U.S. From Guyana, Cuban migrants normally travel through the perilous jungled trenches of the Darien Gap dividing Colombia and Panama before winding their way up through the Americas.

In the past, migrants with few other options have also taken precarious boat rides from Cuba to Florida’s coast.