Over 1.3 Million Cubans Reside Abroad While Maintaining Residency in Cuba

The Cuban regime has acknowledged the severity of the current migration crisis, revealing that over 1.3 million Cubans maintain residency in Cuba while living abroad. This was disclosed by Colonel Mario Méndez Mayedo, head of the Directorate of Identification, Immigration, and Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), during an appearance on the Cuban TV program Mesa Redonda. Méndez Mayedo discussed the proposed laws on migration, foreign affairs, and citizenship drafted by the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP).

In a new euphemism, Méndez Mayedo referred to the mass exodus of Cubans over the past three years as "a new demographic and social scenario," presenting it as the result of normal migration processes, devoid of any political or ideological connotations. According to the regime, the evidence of this "normality" is the "logical circularity of the flow of Cubans who leave the country, return to their homeland, live in another country, have family in Cuba, live here for a while, and live there for a while."

"There are more than a million Cubans in this situation. Yes, we estimate... No, we don't estimate... According to our records, updated since 2013, there are 1.3 million Cubans who maintain residency in Cuba," stated the colonel. Méndez Mayedo noted that while these Cubans maintain residency in Cuba, they spend a significant amount of time abroad, which he described as part of the "logical circularity" of migration processes.

This figure, revealed for the first time by the regime, does not account for the number of Cuban migrants who have chosen to establish residency abroad and have ceased to comply with the requirements to maintain residency in Cuba, a detail not provided by the hesitant colonel of MININT.

The regime plans to give differentiated treatment to these nearly 1.5 million Cubans. The ANPP has proposed new laws that grant certain rights to emigrated citizens (such as retaining or inheriting properties previously confiscated), while simultaneously providing a legal basis for the regime's repressive practices against those who oppose it.

Emigrated Cubans: A New Revenue Source for the Totalitarian Regime

In January 2020, Ernesto Soberón, Director General of Consular Affairs and Cuban Residents Abroad, stated that 57,746 emigrated Cubans had applied to return to reside on the island under the "repatriation" process included in the regime's new Migration Policy since 2013. Among them, 36,471 were residents of the United States. Soberón did not specify whether all applications had been approved but used the figure to support the official argument that "Cubans do not emigrate en masse."

Repatriation allows Cubans to recover lost rights, such as the ability to inherit properties and receive basic services on the island. However, the right to vote in Cuba is apparently not enjoyed by repatriated individuals. Nonetheless, more than 1.2 million Cubans have not lost or renounced their residency in Cuba in this latest migration wave, a clear indicator of the "differentiated treatment" given by the Cuban regime to potential remittance senders to the island.

In June 2023, the Cuban regime eliminated the repatriation requirement for Cuban athletes residing abroad to participate in events organized on the island. This measure highlights the regime's effort to maintain "ties" and "connections" with emigrants.

In mid-November 2023, Méndez Mayedo claimed that the phrase "Welcome to the Homeland," used by Immigration and Customs officials at the borders when Cuban travelers arrive, is not merely a courtesy and that many emigrants respond by saying: "Homeland or Death."

"Some are arriving in their homeland after long stays abroad, where there is longing, yearning. The vast majority appreciate it; we have this daily experience," assured the official.

A month earlier, while convening the IV Conference "The Nation and Emigration," Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel referred to emigrated Cubans critical of the regime as "failures" and blamed the United States for the ongoing exodus from the island.

"(...) Not acknowledging failure, because some leave, I won't speak in absolute terms whether it's more or less, but they really don't find the American dream and are in a more disadvantaged situation than they might be in Cuba, at least in terms of social security. But the hatred instilled in them is so great that they are unable to recognize that the country they went to did not welcome them as they expected, and then they turn against Cuba, against the revolution, as if the revolution were the cause of their decision," Díaz-Canel said.

During the event's closing, Díaz-Canel assured that in his vision of Cuba, "those who conspire have no place." He emphasized his commitment to "strengthening ties with Cubans living in any part of the world is unwavering and irreversible," but made it clear that not everyone could return to the island.

In his speech, Díaz-Canel insisted that his stance is Martian, wanting a Cuba "with all and for the good of all," except for Cubans who oppose his government's management.

"In that 'all' there is no room for those who conspire against the nation, those who call for invasion and license to kill their own people, nor those who stain the lone star flag with annexationist intentions and harass and attack the artists and athletes who represent us on international stages and events," he said.

"We will never refuse to grow in rights for all, except for those who live and work at the behest of another government with the declared aim of destroying our project and its always unfinished work of striving for the highest degree of social justice possible," Díaz-Canel concluded.