A young Cuban identified on TikTok as @dayexi48 thrilled thousands of people by posting a video last Sunday in which she welcomes her parents in Brazil, bringing an end to a long wait that, like for many emigrated Cuban families, was marked by effort, money, and bureaucracy.
In the emotional video posted on TikTok, which lasts 45 seconds, the young woman accompanies the images of the reunion with a phrase that says it all: "Finally, parents are in Brazil. We did it. The family is complete."
The clip quickly amassed over 51,800 views and more than 4,100 likes, with hundreds of comments from people who identified with the story.
Dayexi's profile shows flags of Cuba, Guyana, and Brazil, suggesting that their migration route passed through Guyana before arriving in Brazilian territory, a common path among Cubans entering through the northern border of the country, specifically through Bonfim in the state of Roraima.
Reuniting family in Brazil is not a straightforward process. Only refugees with formally recognized status have the right to request the extension of that recognition to their relatives, a process that can take more than five years with no fixed legal deadline for resolution.
This is compounded by the economic cost: documented similar cases indicate that Cuban families need around 5,000 dollars to cover visas, tickets, and procedures, making each reunification both an emotional and financial achievement.
The reunion of Dayexi with her parents occurs at a time when Cubans surpass Venezuelans in asylum applications in Brazil for the first time in a decade.
In just the first quarter of 2025, Brazil recorded 9,467 applications for asylum from Cubans, compared to 5,794 from Venezuelans, according to the Migration Panel of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security of that country.
The trend has been accelerating since 2022: that year, there were 7,600 Cuban applications; in 2023, there were 13,100; and between January and November 2024, the number reached 19,100.
Brazil has established itself as a destination for work and life for Cubans, not only as a transit country to Uruguay or the United States, with a greater concentration in states such as Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Roraima, and Amazonas.
This type of reunion has regularly generated viral content on social media. An 83-year-old Cuban grandmother reunited with her family after years of separation in a video that also moved thousands, just like other reunions that made her followers cry or the case of someone who waited six years to embrace a loved one again.
Each video of this kind is, at its core, a summary of years of sacrifice that the Cuban dictatorship forces those who see no future on the Island to endure, as they must rebuild their lives—and their families—from scratch in another country.
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