Migrants turn to unusual boat parts market: Facebook

MIAMI (AP) — When Amauri decided to leave Cuba for the United States, he bought sheets of metal to build a rustic boat to get to the Florida Keys.

But when Amauri, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation from the Cuban government, decided to drop the idea, he did what many on the island do when they want to resell their belongings: He put the metal plates up for sale on Facebook.

“Buyers show up there more easily than looking for them on the street,” said Amauri, who has sold about 20 metal sheets to people who want to build makeshift boats.

In a country where building materials are expensive and hard to come by, Cubans are using Facebook to find building materials for makeshift boats bound for the US. In the ecosystem of so-called “balsero” bands, named after the rafters who left the island for the US in 1994, and a nickname sometimes used by those who have arrived since then, there are ads for buying or selling GPS navigation systems, metal drums. , propellers, motors, life jackets and more.

Some posts go as far as trying to organize illegal migrant travel or advertising complete packages with most if not all of the materials needed to build a boat. Online transactions are a digital reflection of the sea and land mass exodus that Cuba is experiencing as conditions on the island worsen. Just last month, thousands of Cubans took to the sea to reach the Florida Keys, littering the shores with makeshift boats.

Ariel, another Cuban who asked not to be named, has built about a dozen homemade boats since he first tried to leave the country nearly two decades ago.

He sells leftover materials he doesn’t use, such as compasses, propellers, propellers and wooden oars on Facebook. In one of the December posts, he offered two propellers in exchange for a smartphone. But Ariel said he bought more building materials than he sold to the groups. One day, he went to the western-central city of Pinar del Río to buy two car batteries to use on boats.

“It’s the only means of communication that we have to sell, collect and do whatever,” he said in an interview with the Miami Herald.

A spokesperson for Meta, the tech giant that owns Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram, confirmed that the company has disabled several balsero groups after an internal investigation concluded they were against the company’s policy on human exploitation.

Meta prohibits human trafficking on its platforms. It changed its policy on human smuggling in December and also offers guidance on how to report it on its website. The spokesman said the company is working with outside groups such as the International Organization for Migration to create policies and resources that not only support migrants fleeing insecure conditions, but discourage smuggling through its networks.

According to the spokesperson, meta-users can talk about migration and the right to asylum, as well as express a desire to migrate to another country and leave difficult and dangerous circumstances. But any reports of illegal exit through smugglers will be removed, and users will receive resources about the risks and signs of human trafficking, as well as legal migration routes, a Meta spokesman said.

“Organization of migration”

Experts who spoke to the Herald said the buying and selling of building materials on social media points to the spread of Wi-Fi and digital services, as well as the rise of independent businesses in Cuba amid increased sea migration to the US.

“Things that used to be taboo or even illegal or repressed are now in the public domain, showing us the level of desperation, but also showing us that Cubans have enough access to the Internet, where it will be one of the most popular – to places to try solve this problem,” said Theodore Hencken, a professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Baruch College, who has written several books about Cuba.

Henken said Facebook is Cuba’s “one-stop shop” and is used everywhere by those with Internet access on the island. Internet usage in Cuba has increased dramatically over the past five years, fueled by the launch of 3G mobile internet in December 2018.

The government cracked down on activists and social media influencers, including during prominent anti-government protests in July 2021. It also has laws restricting free speech on social media. But the professor believes the buying and selling of materials is a reflection of how Cubans are resisting government restrictions.

“It points to where Cuba is right now, in terms of a crisis of people who are desperate to leave, as well as what used to be banned is now de facto allowed, if not institutionalized or legal,” Henken said.

Jorge Duani, director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University, called online groups “a new way to organize migration,” fueled in part by the rise in self-employed, non-government workers.

“There are people who have realized that there is a demand for building materials and are making it commercial,” he said.

Amauri said he knows people who sell ready-made boats on the social platform. In addition to materials for building boats, he said, Facebook has become a hub in Cuba for selling everything from cars to food. One day he needed yogurt for his family, but he couldn’t find it in the store. Instead, he bought it on Facebook.

“It has become a business for Cubans because it is the only place where you can get resale money,” he said.

Traveling illegally from Cuba or making such a trip is punishable by imprisonment and fines under the country’s new legal code, adopted in December. But experts say open online dialogue about illegal maritime migration may point to less consistent punishments for Cubans who cannot reach the US by sea.

“We are talking about a country where there is no rule of law. They can impose it today and stop imposing it tomorrow,” said Sebastian Arcos, deputy director of the FIU Institute, who spent a year in prison in 1982 after Cuban authorities caught him trying to leave Cuba by boat.

‘I’m Going Fishing’

Members of Facebook groups include migrants who have already left Cuba by boat, Cubans who are planning illegal travel, and loved ones of Cuban migrant passengers who have left but are believed to have gone missing at sea. The meta turned off a few after asking the Herald about the groups.

The groups are also forums for Cubans to ask questions about US immigration policy and how to use a GPS device. One group clearly indicates its purpose, the description says that it is intended for the “sale of village ships.”

The posters contain building advice (“Make a box for the engine and cover it so that water doesn’t get in”), weather conditions (“Don’t go. A cold front is on the way”), encouragement (“Let’s build and go out in victory to the lands of freedom”) , as well as news about who made it to the Florida Keys and who was caught at sea and put on a US Coast Guard ship.

One user asked for the “most recommended” Florida Key to get to the United States.

“Marquise esta mui quemado,” she said. Marquis keys are “burned” or used too often.

Often family members of Cubans who have gone missing at sea post photos of their loved ones, ominous reminders of the dangers of illegal travel. But bands are also a respite for humor in the face of desperation. One of the participants joked that there should be traffic lights in the ocean.

Members use coded, though not subtle, language in their messages, referring to boats under construction as “proyectos” or projects. “Salir a pescar” – or fishing – is a common code for immigrating to the United States.

Some people want to trade everything they have for a one way trip to the United States.

“I will trade my house for a safe and fast fishing trip,” another man from the city of Cardenas wrote on January 3 in another now defunct forum.

The groups are also rife with fake or relatively new profiles. Both Ariel and Amauri said that these accounts often belong to scammers or police officers. But the Cubans, like Ariel, also use them to hide their identity in order to avoid trouble with the authorities.

Members refer to suspicious messages as scams or share accounts they say robbed people looking for rides or materials. Issues of concern: new accounts or those using fictitious names and photos in their profiles.

“I don’t respond to fake profiles,” Amauri said.

Ariel builds another homemade boat. He found the materials and four passengers on Facebook. Obtaining consumables is often a laborious and costly undertaking. But the thought of giving his family a better life sends him back to the water again and again in rickety wooden boats. And through the platform, he was able to get what he needed.

“Thanks to Facebook, a lot of people now live in the United States,” Ariel said.

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