San José, January 8 (RHC-teleSUR) -- The ongoing saga of some 8,000 Cuban migrants that began in November on the Costa Rican border with Nicaragua begins a new chapter on Tuesday, when the first group will continue their journey to the United States.  

Only 180 people are booked on the first flight from Costa Rica to El Salvador, to determine whether additional flights will be scheduled to transport more Cubans out of their current migrant limbo. 

According to authorities in El Salvador, the total cost per person of $555 covers the airfare from Costa Rica to El Salvador, exit taxes in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala, ground transportation from El Salvador to Mexico’s southern border, and food along the way.

The flight, operated by the airline Avianca, is slated to depart from Costa Rica’s northern city of Liberia on Tuesday evening.

The Cuban migrants are expected to arrive at the Guatemala-Mexico border on Wednesday night.  There they will be granted 20-day transit visas and will be left to find and pay for their own transportation to the U.S. border.