The Cuban actor Humberto Miranda posted a video on Instagram last Saturday, filmed aboard a boat in Miami, in which he answers his daughter's question that gives the clip its title: why do all Cubans love boats?
Miranda is remembered by several generations of Cubans for having portrayed the baseball player Yosvany as a child in the iconic Cuban television series Los pequeños campeones, produced by ICRT in the late 80s and re-aired in the 90s. He now resides in Miami, where he works as an audiovisual producer.
In the 54-second clip, the daughter appears somewhat embarrassed as her father announces he will be posting the video on social media, but Miranda insists on answering the question with a lesson he believes is fundamental.
"We were forbidden to get on a boat in Cuba. We couldn't get on a boat. Because those who got on a boat would leave for the yuma. They would go north, you understand?" he explains.
From that point on, the everyday moment transforms into a reflection on freedom: "That is freedom. It may seem like economic freedom, it may sound foolish what I’m telling you."
The central message of the video is a warning that Miranda addresses directly to her daughter: "Never let anyone, no one, say you can't buy a boat. That's why we are in a free country, that's why a free country brought you here."
In the end, the actor humorously acknowledges that his daughter thinks he is "blowing smoke," but he emphasizes the importance of the message: "It's important to teach the kids about where we are living."
The prohibition mentioned by Miranda is based on reality. In Cuba, there is no explicit parliamentary law, but the Naval Captaincy enforces an administrative restriction that prevents citizens from sailing on recreational vessels. The only exception applies to Cubans married to foreigners, through a bureaucratic process that includes a letter from the spouse, a marriage certificate, and approval from a commission headed by a colonel, and even then, navigation is only permitted in internal waters.
This restriction is historically linked to the state control of irregular emigration by sea, a phenomenon that has marked Cuba since the Mariel Exodus in 1980, through the raft crisis of 1994, up to the most recent waves of migration.
Miranda, who also participated in the series The Influencer of PRONYR TV in 2024, maintains an active presence on social media where she shares reflections on life in exile and Cuban culture.
The video resonated deeply within the Cuban community abroad, and Miranda's response to her daughter became a summary of what it means for many Cuban emigrants to be able to do something as simple as going sailing.
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