As crisis deepens, Cubans scramble to migrate by any means

People wait their turn for visa procedures nearby the embassy of Panama in Havana, Cuba, June 13, 2022. Picture taken on June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban Idalberto Echavarria maneuvered his wife Olga in a wheelchair to the front of the line at Terminal 2 of Havana's airport, dodging luggage and a sea of people bidding farewell to friends and family.

The crowded terminal, a launch point for Cubans making their way by air to Nicaragua then overland to the United States, is one barometer of the frenzy to migrate from the communist-run island nation.