Ten Cubans deported in raid against migrants in Russia

In an operation aimed at combating migration and illegal employment in Russia, ten Cuban citizens were detained and later deported after being surprised in a raid on the Rodina market in Kazan.

The detainees, five married couples, insisted that they were tourists and that their visit to the market was part of their tourist itinerary in Tatarstan, a region known for its beauty and cultural heritage, according to a local media report. KazanFirst.

The group was arrested by agents of the Russian Ministry of the Interior (FSB) and the Investigative Committee, with the support of the Russian Guard, in an operation that focused on a perfume warehouse inside the market.

Despite his claims to be in the country under the regime that allows Cubans to stay in Russia for up to 30 days without the need for a visa, the authorities proceeded to arrest him.

During the investigation, linguistic difficulties arose since the detainees do not speak Russian, forcing agents to use an online translator to communicate. The tourists, who had arrived in Russia just three weeks ago, faced accusations of violating stay rules and carrying out work activities without proper permits.

The Soviet District Court of Kazan showed no mercy and ruled the immediate deportation of the Cubans to their native country.

According to the sentence, the men and women were separated; They were sent to the Temporary Detention Center in Naberezhnye Chelny, while they were held in a special center in Kazan before their transfer to Chelny for deportation.

The lawyer Linara Generalova He explained that Cuban citizens have the option of appealing the court's decision in the coming days. From the special detention center where they are held, they will be able to write and send a complaint to try to reverse the deportation decision.

The detention of the Cubans is part of a broader effort by Russian authorities to strengthen control of illegal migration and unregulated labor activities of foreigners in the territory.

The authorities have intensified their efforts in recent weeks, carrying out numerous raids in different parts of Tatarstan, including warehouses and construction sites. These raids have resulted in the verification of more than 300 foreign nationals and the expulsion of 53, mostly from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Reasons for the increase in the Cuban migratory flow to Russia

This incident highlights the immigration tensions caused by the growing arrival of Cubans to Russia, a country to which they can travel for tourism without the need for a visa. However, after this facility agreed upon between both governments, a diverse number of Cubans travel to Russia for other reasons.

Some go in search of work in that country, others travel as “mules” to obtain merchandise that they then resell in Cuba, many use Russia as a springboard for their migratory adventures, either to reach countries in the European Union, or even to USA.

However, in the last two years, a floodgate has also opened that has led many young Cubans to migrate to Russia. It's about the invasion of Ukraine and the hiring of Cubans as mercenaries in the service of the Russian army, in exchange for a salary and the possibility of obtaining citizenship of that country.

The cover for this human trafficking (the vast majority of Cubans join out of necessity and not because of “ideals”) is provided by networks of people who are dedicated to offering “work contracts”, mostly in construction, and who end up leaving to the Cubans with uniforms and weapons on the battle front.

The reports of this trafficking that appeared on social networks have barely provoked a hypocritical and timid reaction from the Cuban authorities, who said they had dismantled a network of 17 people that operated in Cuba for such purposes, but of whose investigation and criminal proceedings there has been no further news.

Meanwhile, the increase in flights of Russian airlines to Cuba, justified as an attractive itinerary for tourism in that country, continues to serve as cover for the departure of thousands of young Cubans who escape from misery and lack of opportunities in Cuba, misinformed and manipulated by the Cuban regime about the invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin about Ukraine.

An exit that is impossible and unimaginable that the Cuban authorities are not detecting. The totalitarian regime of Havana, increasingly dependent on Moscow to overcome the consequences of its terrible, opaque and corrupt management of its socialist economy, it has recently led a trail of embarrassing events of surrender and submission to the dictates of the Kremlin, many of whom wear the garb of military “cooperation”.

The news of KazanFirst identified the group of detained Cubans with a deportation order as “exotic visitors.” The article was published with the following headline: “Hello Fidel: 10 Cuban tourists deported after massive raid in Kazan.”

The course of the war in ukraine and Putin's leadership will be able to influence this flow of “exotic visitors” from a nation where citizens are increasingly distancing themselves from the so-called “revolution” of the dictator. Fidel Castro and its “continuity”.