In just two years alone, at least 533,000 Cubans left the island for the USA around 5% of the 11 million Cubans. Eight out of ten are of working age.
That's not all: between 2022 and 2023, 37,000 Cubans requested refuge in Mexico, and the pace is increasing over time. In August 2023, 6,000 Cubans arrived at the MexicoUS border. In September the number was already 10,000.
No one knows exactly how large the exodus will be, while there is speculation among South American diplomats that the number would be even higher if Cubans seeking Spain or Latin America as travel destinations were added.
But even the North American government's official figures are already higher in absolute terms than other waves of migration from the island since Fidel Castro's revolution in 1959.
- At that time and until 1962, 250,000 Cubans left the country.
- In the 80s there were more than 130,000.
- With the crisis caused by the collapse of Moscow aid in the 1990s, another 30,000 left the country.
However, there is nothing comparable to what is happening today. For many Cubans, the flight to Nicaragua, operated by their ally Daniel Ortega, is one of the most popular emigration routes. Since 2021, a Cuban can enter the Central American country as a “tourist”. And from there they begin a long walk to the MexicoUS border.