Leonel Gonzalez Rodriguez was in Camajuani, the town where he has lived all his life, when his son Miguel arrived with news that seemed impossible.
“Dad, a girl from Czechoslovakia is looking for you.”
Natasha Vázquez
Ernesto Daranas is, without question, one of Cuba’s essential filmmakers. Films such as Los dioses rotos (Broken Gods), Conducta (Behavior), Sergio & Serguéi (Sergio & Sergei), and the documentary Landrián engage directly with the country’s tensions, wounds, and contradictions, and rank among the most important audiovisual works produced in Cuba over the past few decades.
In recent days, I have seen many people mention the Soviet perestroika when referring to the economic measures announced by the Cuban regime, warning of a possible transition toward forms of capitalism controlled by the same elites that have governed the country for decades.
The Russian winter shows no mercy. With temperatures dropping to 30 degrees below zero, the cold seeps through clothing and penetrates to the bone; heating is not an option but a matter of survival. Under such conditions, improvisation can be just as lethal as the absence of a heat source.
A Cuban mother’s journey from Holguín, Cuba to Abkhazia reveals the harrowing reality of exile, as her family faces legal limbo, medical neglect, and the daily struggle to survive far from home.
In April 2025, elTOQUE received a disturbing report: a group of young Cubans lured to Russia with false promises of legal work and a better life. Instead, they faced detention, forced labor, and threats.
Lázaro’s story is just one of many.
Russia has extended Decree 1126, giving undocumented migrants—including thousands of Cubans—until September 10, 2025, to legalize their status or leave voluntarily. While the move offers temporary relief, strict requirements and regional inconsistencies fuel ongoing uncertainty.
As Russia tightens immigration laws, Cubans turn to Abkhazia for refuge—only to face legal uncertainty, economic hardship, and diplomatic isolation.
Thousands of Cubans in Russia face an uncertain future. Learn what the 2025 regularization process really means and what happens after the April deadline.
Some shouts in Russian followed by a loud bang, woke Yoel on a cool early morning of the Moscow summer. The hostel where he was staying, in the Vidnoe area, south of Moscow, was the epicenter of one of the frequent police raids on places that house migrants. More than 75 Cubans, including women and some minors, mostly in irregular situations, ended up that night in a police station.