Juan Carlos Santana Novoa, the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security in Cuba, has requested political asylum at the Nogales border in Arizona this Monday. He is currently free in the United States and has a court date set for 2026.
The information was disclosed by Mario J. Pentón based on anonymous government sources and immigrants who unknowingly traveled with the high-ranking official. "We had no idea who that man was until we reached the border and they called him by name. There were eight of us Cubans in the group. He was in Tamaulipas and asked to join us to schedule the CBP One appointment," one of the migrants accompanying the deputy minister told Martí Noticias.
Another person interviewed mentioned they were always joking with him, saying he "looked like a Cuban official," which turned out to be true. It was also revealed that Santana Novoa had missed a previous CBP One appointment because he was in Cuba and was "very secretive about everything related to his family and his past."
The group traveling with the deputy minister claimed he was the only one allowed entry into the United States. "They called him, asked if he was traveling with his wife or alone, scanned his face, and let him through, but the rest of us were told that our appointment was not at this port. We are devastated and, at the same time, afraid of being associated with him and ending up on some blacklist," one of the interviewees disclosed with disappointment.
A Facebook post from the Cuban Embassy in Mexico dated September 4 revealed that the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security of Cuba participated that day in a panel titled "Structural Reforms and Longevity" at the First Technical Summit of the American Commissions on Social Security, held in Mexico City.
Santana Novoa was appointed Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security on January 11, 2022, according to the official page of the entity. As of this article's publication, the Cuban government has not commented on the incident involving the high-ranking official, adding to the growing number of officials, former officials, judges, prosecutors, and other government-associated figures heading to the United States by various means.