A 23-year-old Cuban woman who survives by selling popcorn on the streets of Barranquilla starred in a deeply emotional video after Colombian influencer Javier Royero decided to help her while she was working under the intense heat of the city.
The girl, who will turn 24 in July, emigrated from Cuba driven by a crisis she described without filters and with visible emotional exhaustion.
"Things are terrible, it's unbearable. Thirty hours of blackouts, seventy-two hours. There's no water, the toilets are overflowing, there's no transportation, no food, no medicine. No, no, no. Terrible, terrible," he told Royero.
That day, she had gone out to sell 55 bags of popcorn and had already managed to sell between 40 and 45 when the influencer approached her to ask how the day was going.
The man explained that he usually uses the money from his tithes to support small entrepreneurs in Barranquilla instead of giving it to a church. As part of the assistance, he organized an activity in which the young woman handed out free popcorn to several people present at the location.
"Let's round them up to fifty then. I'll pay you double," the reporter said, also handing him an additional financial contribution sent by supporters from his social media.
The Cuban's reaction was immediate. With tears in her eyes and her voice trembling, she confessed that she had gone out to work feeling discouraged.
"I was feeling really low. Oh, thank you so much, my friend," he expressed while repeatedly thanking God and the journalist for the gesture.
Before saying goodbye, he acknowledged that sales had not been good in recent days.
"Although things have been a bit slow these days, well, tomorrow is payday," he commented with a mix of resignation and hope.
The scene reflects the reality of thousands of Cubans who have emigrated to Colombia in search of opportunities. According to figures from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of that country, over 85,000 Cubans officially entered between 2012 and 2025. Many end up surviving in the informal economy or in precarious jobs due to the difficulties in validating professional qualifications and accessing formal employment.
Barranquilla, along with Bogotá and Medellín, is among the cities where numerous Cuban migrants are attempting to rebuild their lives amidst economic hardships and exhausting workdays.
The phenomenon is part of the largest Cuban exodus in decades. Between 2021 and 2025, more than one million people left the island, and nearly 30% of the emigrants were between 15 and 34 years old. Latin America has become one of the main destinations of this migratory wave: Brazil received more than 41,000 asylum applications from Cubans in 2025 and Uruguay recorded the arrival of more than 22,000 citizens from the island that same year.
The energy crisis remains one of the main triggers for the mass exodus of Cubans. In several provinces, blackouts have lasted over 72 consecutive hours, while the country's electricity deficit continues to worsen.
"Well, God bless you, dear," were the young woman's last words before saying goodbye to the reporter who, at least for a few minutes, returned a bit of hope to her amid a day marked by uncertainty and the nostalgia of someone who had to leave their country to survive.
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