During Hispanic Heritage Month, Cuban native Miriam Miyares, the mother of Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, shared her poignant story of fleeing Cuba nearly six decades ago. At the age of 19, Miyares left the island on October 11, 1965, amidst the oppressive environment fostered by Fidel Castro's dictatorial regime. Her journey led her first to Spain and later that year to the United States, where she eventually became a naturalized citizen in 1982.
In the U.S., Miyares raised three children, including Jason Miyares, who made history as the first Hispanic to hold a state office in Virginia when he was elected to the House of Delegates in 2015. Six years later, he achieved another milestone as the first Latino Attorney General of the state, a position he holds today.
The Dark Days Before Departure
In an interview with local media, Miyares reflected on the reasons behind her departure from Cuba and her quest for freedom, which she believed was unattainable on the island after the Castros seized power. Her memories date back to April 1961, during the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. At just 14 years old, she witnessed armed men from the regime storm into her home one night in search of her brother, Ángel. Her mother pleaded with them to wait as she went to awaken him, but Miyares recalls, “I woke up to find a young man standing in front of me with a gun pointed at my face.”
Ángel, an opponent of the communist regime, was taken from their home at 2 a.m. and spent four days in detention. “The oppression and persecution of those who disagreed with the regime's policies and ideology became unbearable. The United States represented a beacon of hope, a land where anyone could aspire to achieve their dreams through hard work and determination,” Miyares said in a statement published on Virginia First Lady Suzanne S. Youngkin's website.
New Beginnings in America
After Ángel's release, he fled to the United States, where he later raised funds to help Miyares leave Cuba in 1965. “I left Cuba with just the clothes on my back and a bag, that was all I was allowed to take,” she recounted to WAVY TV. “For a 19-year-old girl, it's a cultural shock. But I knew one thing: coming here meant I would have the freedom to do what I wanted.”
Miyares shared that the Castro regime confiscated the family home built by her grandfather, a loss that solidified her resolve to seek freedom at any cost. During a visit to Miami, she was shown photos of her hometown. “I looked at a house and asked, 'Whose house is that? I don't recognize it,'” she recalled to the TV channel. “Someone looked at me and said, 'Honey, that's your family's house.' I walked away in tears because it now looked like a neighbor's house.”
A Legacy of Freedom
Miyares settled in Virginia in 1987, when her twin sons, Jason and Bryan, were in sixth grade, and her eldest, Steven, was a sophomore in high school. “My children were taught from a young age how blessed they were to be Americans, to have the freedom to express their ideas, fight for, and pursue their dreams,” she stated.
Nearly 50 years after leaving Cuba, Miyares stepped into a voting booth to cast her vote for her son, Jason Miyares, to represent her in the Virginia General Assembly. Reflecting on his election as Attorney General, she admitted, “I was incredibly proud and amazed when my son became Attorney General. It validated everything I'd gone through to start a new life in the U.S., watching my children achieve their dreams—something that wouldn’t have been possible in a socialist country where the government dictates what you can and cannot do.”
“I have immense respect for the United States, my adopted country, which has opened its arms to me and countless others over generations, following the beacon of hope that this beautiful country represents,” she concluded.
Attorney General Miyares commemorated the anniversary of his mother's courageous journey, stating, “Today marks 59 years since a frightened 19-year-old girl boarded a plane in Havana, Cuba, with no money, no home, and no idea where her next meal would come from, determined to escape the horrors of Castro's socialism. Her name? Miriam Miyares,” he wrote on his X profile. “Thank you for being an inspiration and for reminding me every day that America truly is the last, best hope on Earth,” expressed the Attorney General.