Cuban broadcaster Magdiel Pérez Labrada, who has been in the United States for two years, revealed in a video why he decided to emigrate.
Magdiel, popular in Cuba for being the host of the Radio Rebelde program "Haciendo Radio" and the television magazine "Hola, Habana" from the capital’s telecenter, confessed that he left to be with his mother, Elaine, a cancer survivor.
This week, while launching his own YouTube channel "Gente como uno," he recounted that in 2014, his brother, who was abroad on a scholarship, asked for permission to go to the United States with their mother. The host agreed, but the woman set a condition for the trip: that he would join them later.
Four years later, the woman was diagnosed with colon cancer, and Magdiel was unable to leave Cuba. Her brother couldn't stop working, but she never lost her faith or her joy. Thanks to the support of people, her faith, and the Christians from the Maranatha church, she overcame the illness.
"And I realized it was time to keep my word," the host confessed.
After the pandemic and the subsequent wave of Cuban migration, with "that loneliness in which our Island was becoming engulfed," the 48-year-old from Tunas realized it was time to fulfill the promise he made to his mother.
"That was the fundamental reason why I decided to come to this country," he/she emphasized.
"The strength of a mother, her heart beating close to you and that embrace is unmatched. I am with her and cherish her every day. To those who have their mother alive, cherish and love her until the very end, hold her tight as I do with mine at this moment, because there is no greater gift in life than that," he expressed.
In these two years, he has had to take on various jobs, such as working in a brick factory and washing dishes in a restaurant. Thanks to this, he was able to stabilize his situation and buy his first car. "The shame is not in working with dignity, but in profiting from improper things," he emphasized.
He has now embarked on a new project on the Internet with "very special things" while enjoying "every moment with my mother, hugging her and loving her like never before."
In Cuba, Magdiel Pérez balanced his work as a radio presenter with promoting government events.
Graduated in Scientific-Technical Information and Library Science from the University of Havana, he received the Neighborhood Award from the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) at the end of September, presented by former spy Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, the national coordinator of the organization.
As a regular voice for activities aimed at promoting the regime, including the May 1st parades, Pérez had several recorded spots about the elections for the delegates of the People's Power held in November 2022, coinciding with the news of his escape from Cuba, which caused a great stir at the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT).
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