Miguel Díaz-Canel downplayed the largest exodus in Cuba's history by stating that the mass emigration of young Cubans is not a phenomenon exclusive to the island.
In an interview granted to journalist Roberto Cavada, from the Palace of the Revolution, he noted that those who emigrate the most are the youth, attributing it to having "more rebelliousness."
"Look, we always talk a lot about young Cubans who emigrate as if migration were a problem exclusive to Cuba. Migration is a global issue. In migration problems, those who emigrate the most are always the young people, who have more energy, more rebellion, and more opportunities to migrate," the leader stated.
Díaz-Canel asserted that there should also be discussion about those who remain on the island, about the young people who stay, while avoiding mentioning that many do so because they have no other option.
"We should also talk about the young people in Cuba who do not emigrate and who today you see taking on important leadership roles, but also from a technological and business perspective in our industries," he said.
The leader's words contrast with an unprecedented demographic reality. According to official figures from the ONEI presented in May 2025, Cuba's effective population has fallen to 9.74 million inhabitants, a 10% decrease from 2020.
A study by demographer Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos estimated that by the end of 2024, only 8,025,624 people would be living in Cuba, marking a 24% reduction over four years. The researcher himself warned that "a population contraction of such magnitude has only been observed in contexts of armed conflict."
Between 2021 and 2024, approximately 1.79 million Cubans left the country, marking the largest exodus in the island's history. In 2024 alone, Cuba lost more than 300,000 residents and recorded its lowest birth rate in decades.
The interview with Cavada is part of a communications offensive that Díaz-Canel has intensified throughout 2026, featuring appearances in Newsweek, NBC News, elDiario.es, and Canal Red.
In April, during an interview with NBC News, he became the first Cuban leader to appear on U.S. television since Fidel Castro.
In all these interventions, the leader has insisted on attributing the crisis in Cuba to the U.S. embargo and has rejected any possibility of yielding to external pressures.
In response to the question of whether the 176 economic measures approved that same day by the National Assembly were a reaction to Washington, he replied firmly: “Trump does not rule in Cuba, nor does the U.S. government rule in Cuba. Cuba is sovereign.”
The pattern of minimizing the exodus is not new in the regime's discourse. In October 2023, Díaz-Canel had already stated that Cubans who emigrate "rarely do so out of hatred for the revolution."
Cuba has not conducted a population census since 2012, and the one planned for 2022 has been postponed several times due to a lack of resources, making it difficult to accurately grasp the true extent of the demographic decline that the regime itself refuses to acknowledge.
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