More than 113,000 of them arrived in America from Mexico between October and April
Raul and Idana.. the story of a disappointed young generation in Cuba
Raul at the airport when he "forced" to travel to the United States.
AFP
Young people are leaving and letting Cuban society age.
AFP
Raul and a number of Cuban intellectuals during a protest demonstration outside the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture in the capital, Havana, weeks ago.
AFP
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Raúl and Aidana were hopeful that with the internet in Cuba, their country would open up and an atmosphere of freedom would change, but the communist island closed again, forcing the frustrated artists to emigrate, like many young Cubans.
Raul Prado, a 35-year-old cinematographer, and his wife, actress Aidana Hernandez-Vibles, 31, have left for Miami.
“Immigration is an idea that all Cubans have in mind at some point, but I have never thought of emigrating,” Raul says.
But disappointment prompted the couple to do so.
Within three years, they watched the mobile internet expand their horizons and turn their daily lives upside down, allowing a generation to open up to the world and the emergence of a young civil society, before their launch was disrupted by communist authorities, who have since tightened the noose around.
Meanwhile, the country plunged into its worst economic crisis in nearly 30 years.
And every month, thousands of Cubans choose the path of exile.
But the story of Raul and Aidana highlights a new phenomenon on the island: a generation of educated young men who give up the struggle in their homeland and go into exile, depriving the state of its elite.
influx of immigrants
Since the reopening of the Cuban border, which had been closed for nearly 10 months due to the pandemic, on November 15, 2021, the flow of migrants has not stopped.
Thousands of residents flee, mainly through Central America, arriving by plane, then continuing on foot to the US border, as well as by sea in smugglers' boats.
According to US Customs, more than 113,000 Cubans arrived in the US from Mexico between October and April.
In the United States, Cubans enjoy a special status. Even if they enter illegally, they can regularize their status under the 1966 Settlement Act, which grants them permanent residence after spending one year on US soil.
If the numbers continue to rise, this will be the largest wave of emigration in 63 years of the revolution in Cuba, which has a population of 11.2 million.
The scientist Augustin Lachey, a fierce defender of the revolution, says that immigration "is increasing, and it includes the emigration of young people with university degrees."
hopefull
On January 27, 2019, a hurricane struck Havana, killing three people, injuring 172 others, and causing extensive damage.
At the time, Raul, who immediately mobilized friends and acquaintances via Facebook and WhatsApp to help, said it was a "battlefield."
The internet had been activated by phones a month earlier in Cuba, and Raúl was aware of the power of social networks. Their small apartment in the Miramar district had become the headquarters for disaster relief, where food and clothes were stored before they were distributed.
A national initiative may seem normal elsewhere, but it sets a precedent in Cuba, where only the authorities have the right to intervene in similar situations.
A civil society and a connected, informal network of Cuban youth was born, among them many artists determined to work outside the formal setting.
"After the hurricane, other things happened and we were always organizing ourselves", Raul continues, via the Internet.
November 2020 marked a new stage, after members of the San Isidro protest movement broadcast live on Facebook a move for them in Havana to demand the release of a rapper.
The next day, about 300 artists spontaneously gathered in front of the Ministry of Culture to demand more freedom of expression.
Among them is Raúl, and his theater friend, Junior Garcia, who has become the spearhead of the new generation.
Since the police were not prepared for this and were surprised by the movement, they allowed them to continue their movement, a precedent in the modern history of the island.
"What happened today is historic," said Junior, a member of the committee responsible for negotiating with the authorities.
angry generation
On July 11, 2021, Raúl, Idana, Junior and his stage producer wife Diana Prieto were preparing pasta to watch the European Football Championship final, when they discovered that thousands of Cubans were demonstrating in the country's streets, shouting "we are hungry" and "freedom".
Some also called in these spontaneous rallies, "Down with the dictatorship."
The young demonstrators also organized a rally in front of the Cuban Institute of Television.
During which they demanded 15 minutes of broadcast to launch an invitation to the national dialogue.
But this time, the protests were met with repression.
More than 1,000 people were arrested in these demonstrations, which resulted in the death of one person and the injury of dozens in about 50 cities.
In Havana, protesters were evacuated from the front of the television station, some violently loaded into a garbage truck and taken to the police station.
Raúl and Junior were arrested and released the next day, but remained under the watchful eye of the authorities.
When Junor, via the Facebook group Archipelago (Archipelago), called for a march on November 15 for the release of political prisoners, he, like other dissidents, was prevented from leaving the house by plainclothes agents.
The massively deployed security forces prevented the demonstration.
The police warned Al-Mashari that “if he insists on this, he will spend 30 years in prison,” he said.
More than 700 protesters received prison terms of up to 20 or 30 years.
Junior and Diana chose exile in Spain.
Other artists will follow the same path.
“My generation is not afraid, it is angry, and that anger has turned into pain,” Aidana says.
There is no future in Cuba
For Raul and Aidana, the decision was made to leave when the young woman learned she was going to be a mother.
She does not want to "give birth here," and he knows that if he stays, he will "continue to engage" in political activities that might affect his family: "It would be irresponsible to make them put up with it."
Aidana decided to start the trip on January 30th.
But that was not certain.
In recent months, the authorities have prevented young critics or protesters, whether they are dissidents, journalists, or artists, from leaving the country.
She flew to Spain when she was six months pregnant, got a Schengen visa, the key to entering Mexico, and paid a smuggler who took her to Mexicali near the US border to enter the US at night, after a four-hour drive.
On his American visa, Raúl joined it later, after completing his work as a director of photography in the movie “Riquembele O El Mundo de Nilcito” by Fernando Pérez, the most prominent Cuban director today.
"It's really sad, I'm making a decision that I've always refused to make," Raul told AFP before leaving.
aging country
Director Fernando Perez explains that these young people “feel that they have no future in Cuba.
In other words: they do not want to continue to live without freedom of movement (...), without spaces to express themselves and exercise their rights to think differently or to protest.
He adds that this migration "is the worst that can happen to us as a country", because Cuba is losing an educated generation, which may not return or will not be able to do so.
In recent months, he refused entry to dissidents who wanted to return to their country after spending a period abroad.
This deprives the state of an educated elite, and professionals who are able to run the major companies on the island.
For his part, Antonio Aja, director of the Center for Demographic Studies at the University of Havana, warns that "these people who are leaving now, Cuba cannot make them" permanent immigrants, otherwise "the situation will become unsustainable."
The island is one of the longest-lived countries in Latin America, with 21.6% of its population aged 60 or over, and since 2020, the number of deaths has been greater than the number of births.
In Miami, where she was interviewed by AFP, Aidana gave birth to a son, whom she named Bastian.
"When I look back, when I look at the Cuba I left, I'm convinced I made the best decision, because at least I feel there are opportunities" here, she says.
"But I will always be Cuban," she adds.
The story of Raul and Aidana highlights a new phenomenon on the island: a generation of educated young men who give up the struggle in their homeland and choose exile, depriving the state of its elite.
• Thousands of residents flee, especially through Central America, where they arrive by plane, and then continue their journey on foot to the American border, as well as by sea on smugglers' boats.
• The island is one of the countries in which people live the longest in Latin America, with 21.6% of its population aged 60 or over, and since 2020, the number of deaths has been greater than the number of births.
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