14ymedio, Havana, 4 December 2023 — Unlike Cuba, Nicaragua is “a dictatorship that offers opportunities,” says a Cuban interviewed on the streets of Managua by the opposition newspaper La Prensa. Róger, 27 and originally from Camagüey, has decided to stay in that Central American country where he had arrived to continue along the “volcano route” to the final destination of hundreds of thousands of migrants: the United States.
Given the high financial costs and risks of this long journey, which can end in deportation back to the Island, the number of Cubans who decide to try their luck in a country with a regime very similar to the one they left behind is growing: without political freedom and with a socialist discourse, but where the capitalist economy gives some play.
“In the supermarket the strange thing is to go and not find a Cuban,” says Julio, a 14ymedio contributor in Managua. “In the last 15 or 20 days I have also met them at the barbershop, in line at a Subway to order, in a toy store, at the cinema, taking photos in the old center. Without a doubt, the vast majority are passing by,” he explains, although he does not rule out that many end up staying.
The La Prensa article tells several stories of Cubans who have managed to settle in Managua and set up businesses. This is the case of Róger, who, after traveling as a mule, buying merchandise in Nicaragua to resell in Cuba, decided to settle in that country.
Marina also came to the conclusion that, upon arriving in the United States, it would be a long time before she would be able to see her two children, who she left in Cuba
“Nicaragua, although it is said to be in a dictatorship, is very different of my country. There are opportunities here and if you know how to take advantage of them you will do very well. The second time I came I brought my wife and we decided to stay,” says Róger.
Marin
