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Leydis Aguilera, a Cuban engineer in telecommunications and electronics who has been living in Uruguay for 16 years, was sworn in this Tuesday as a substitute deputy in the Uruguayan House of Representatives, becoming the first legislator of Cuban origin in the history of the country's Parliament.
Aguilera serves as the alternate for Deputy Pablo Abdala of the Partido Nacional (PN), one of Uruguay's two historic parties. This is considered a milestone for the Uruguayan Legislative Power, which for the first time includes among its members a representative born in Cuba.
"Uruguay gave me freedom", expressed the new legislator, who added: "Not even in my wildest dreams would I have thought I could be stepping into a seat here in Uruguay, one of the few full democracies in the world."
Aguilera has publicly expressed her critical stance towards the Castro regime and has stated that she holds on to a "thread of hope" that the Cuban government will fall one day.
Her arrival at the Uruguayan Parliament also represents a symbol for the Cuban community abroad.
The presence of Cubans in Uruguay has been marked by episodes of political activism. In 2024, Cubans protested in front of the Cuban Embassy in Montevideo in opposition to the government of Havana, amid a context of mobilizations that were replicated in various cities around the world.
The Cuban community in the country has also faced challenges of integration. In 2024, Cubans suffered xenophobia during a march for immigration regularization in Uruguay, an incident that highlighted the tensions that still exist for migrants from the island in the Río de la Plata country.
With her assumption of office, Leydis Aguilera becomes a reference point for the thousands of Cubans who have found a new home in Uruguay and, for many, the freedom they could not experience in their country of origin.
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