A Cuban mother known on social media as Anita la Cubanita announced her return to Cuba after just five months living in Costa Rica, where she had emigrated in December 2025 with her partner and her young son, Alan. In a video posted on Facebook, the woman explained that the main reason for her decision was her son's emotional well-being, as despite having access to food, electricity, and medical care abroad, he was not happy.
"My baby over there had pureed food, had yogurt, had milk, and yet, he wouldn't eat any of those things. It's true, he had thousands of opportunities, access to electricity, had medicine in hospitals, and still, he wasn't happy," declared the content creator, directly responding to those who criticized her for not thinking of herself.
According to her account, Alan spent 24 hours a day in bed or in front of the television, a situation she was not willing to accept as normal.
"He spent twenty-four hours a day either in bed or in front of a television. And to be honest, that’s not what I wanted for my son," she stated.
Anita openly acknowledged the difficulties facing Cuba, but she accepted them as part of her reality: "Right now, I am in Cuba. There are power outages, it's true, but I will always try to ensure that my baby doesn't lack anything."
What finally convinced her was her son's reaction upon stepping on Cuban soil again: "That look of happiness when he saw his house again, when he was able to reunite with his family, with his grandmothers. I can tell you, my love, that this is beyond words."
This week, the young woman shared a video making her last purchase at a market before leaving, bringing grapes and strawberries for her family because in Cuba "it's very hard to find something like that."
Anita's journey had begun in December 2025, when she emigrated with her family to Costa Rica, traveling through Nicaragua to San José, and she described the impact of seeing markets full of goods: "I had never seen so much food together."
On December 26, 2025, she celebrated her first Christmas outside of Cuba, declaring herself "proud because I took my family out of that hell," and in January 2026, she published a message of hope as she marked her first month abroad.
Before emigrating, Anita had to sell all her belongings to finance the journey, and in Costa Rica, she supported herself by monetizing her social media.
But her case is not isolated. Other Cuban women have made the same decision in recent months, motivated by loneliness and family ties. In January, Maydalina Valdés Fernández returned from Costa Rica stating that "loneliness was killing me." In April, the TikTok influencer Yaniuska López announced her permanent return arguing that "returning does not mean failure."
This phenomenon occurs while Cuba is experiencing one of its worst energy crises, with blackouts exceeding 15 hours daily in several provinces and an electricity generation deficit exceeding 50%. On March 16, a total blackout across the island was recorded, worsened by the fire at the Nico López refinery in Havana on February 13 and the restrictions on Venezuelan oil supply.
Anita, who emigrated in December and celebrated her first Christmas outside Cuba, declared herself "proud" to have taken her family "out of that hell." She closed her message with a mix of determination and hope: "Always with the hope that Cuba will change at some point".
Filed under: