NATION IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : Coast Guard Ends Rescue of Rafters

The Coast Guard has officially ended the operation that started in August and rescued tens of thousands of Cuban refugees seeking to reach Florida by sea, spokesman Dan Waldschmidt said. “An operation specifically to handle a massive influx of Cuban migrants has ended,” Waldschmidt said of the Able Vigil operation. When Able Vigil peaked around the end of August, there were more than 60 vessels and half a dozen airplanes and helicopters patrolling for Cuban boat people in the waters that separate Cuba and Florida. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy ships rescued more than 30,000 Cubans from mid-August to early September.