Raft with US flag caught in plain view off Havana coast

By MEGAN JANETSKY
Associated Press

HAVANA (AP) — An incident involving the Cuban coast guard in plain sight of the U.S. embassy in Havana had people scratching their heads on Monday. Cuban authorities intercepted nearly a dozen passengers from a handmade blue raft with an American flag painted along the bow. Such rafts are hardly out of the ordinary in Cuba, where migrants are abandoning the island in huge numbers, fueled by a complex mix of deepening and compounding crises. But most leave from remote spots to avoid being intercepted. Monday’s spectacle happened after the government strenuously denied responsibility for the deaths of seven migrants who said their boat had been rammed by the coast guard farther offshore.