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The Intercept Operation Brazilian police have intercepted 108 Cuban nationals in a single day as they were being smuggled into the country. In a statement on Tuesday, officials noted that the incident was part of a growing trend of undocumented immigration leaving the beleaguered Caribbean island for Brazil. The Human Trafficking Concerns Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Public Security described the operation as a 'rescue', designed to disrupt human trafficking and irregular migration. According to the Federal Highway Police (PRF), this was the largest humanitarian rescue operation ever recorded in a single incident in Roraima, one of Brazil's 26 states. The Migration Patterns Roraima is situated in the Amazon rainforest, along the border with Guyana and Venezuela. A 'large portion' of Cubans are using Guyana as a gateway to enter Brazil. Some 57.6 percent of the Cuban immigrants living in Brazil are either in Roraima or Amapa, another northern border state. The Crisis in Cuba Cuba has been facing a heightened humanitarian crisis in recent months, as it weathers a de facto fuel blockade imposed by the United States. Since January, no foreign oil has been allowed to reach the Caribbean island, save for one Russian tanker. The US has threatened steep tariffs against any country that might seek to supply Cuba with oil, a necessary fuel for its fragile energy grid. The Future Outlook Critics fear the pressure will lead to new waves of migration off the island. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, economic decline contributed to a mass exodus, with Cuba's population dropping by roughly 10 percent or more. Since 2024, Brazil's Federal Highway Police say they have 'rescued' roughly 297 migrants and asylum seekers in Roraima, most of them Cuban.