Cuban asylum requests in Brazil reached a historic high in 2025, exceeding 41,900 annual petitions, which represents an increase of 88% compared to the approximately 22,300 recorded in 2024, according to data from the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The figure positions Cubans as the leading nationality requesting asylum in Brazil, surpassing Venezuelans for the first time, and highlights the scale of an exodus driven by the economic collapse and political repression of the regime of Miguel Díaz-Canel, as elTOQUE noted.
The contrast with the recent past is striking: between 2010 and 2024, Brazil received a total of 52,373 Cuban applications over 14 years, a figure that was nearly matched only between January and September 2025, when 30,731 Cubans applied for asylum in Brazilian territory.
In 2021, only 0.4% of Cuban emigrants chose Brazil as their destination; by 2024, that proportion had risen to 9.1%, and the data for 2025 confirms that the flow continues to rise.
The acceleration is driven by two combined factors: the relentless decline of living conditions in Cuba —characterized by chronic blackouts, inflation, shortages of food and medicine, and political repression— and the gradual closure of the northward route to Estados Unidos under the immigration policy of the Trump administration.
The irregular income of Cubans in Honduras dropped from 64,000 in 2024 to just 1,500 in the early months of 2026, redirecting flows towards Latin America, where Brazil emerged as an accessible alternative by not requiring a visa from Cubans and allowing them to apply for asylum at the border.
Most Cubans arriving in Brazil do so through irregular land routes from the north of the country, first traveling to Guyana, Suriname, or Venezuela and then continuing overland to the border states of Roraima and Amazonas.
One of the most commonly used entry points is Bonfim, in Roraima, on the border with Guyana, where irregular crossings and human trafficking networks have been reported, with incidents resulting in fatalities, including minors.
Once in Brazilian territory, applicants register on the digital platform Sisconare of the Ministry of Justice and must schedule an appointment with the Federal Police to obtain the refuge protocol, which allows them to work formally, access the public health and education system, and obtain the tax identification number.
However, the process with the National Committee for Refugees (CONARE) can take more than five years, and effective recognition as a refugee is far from automatic: between January and June 2025, the CONARE approved only two Cuban applications, rejected nine, and archived 10,965 cases.
The researcher Alexei Padilla Herrera, a migration consultant based in Brazil and a professor at Diáspora Consultoría, warns that asylum is not the safest or most expedient route to achieve permanent residency in the South American country.
"The key factor in receiving asylum is to demonstrate with verifiable evidence that one has suffered or could suffer persecution."
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