A Cuban mother residing in the United States broke her silence in a video posted on TikTok on July 8 to explain why her son remains in Cuba while she has been away from the island for seven years.
Jenniffer, identified on the platform as @jennytiktokshop7, recorded a testimony lasting over five minutes in response to criticism accusing her of having abandoned the child.
"He's not in Cuba, not because of me, but because his dad didn't want to give him the signature," said the mother, pointing directly at the child's father, whom she identified as Isco Carbonell Castellano.
According to her account, the father was the first to leave Cuba. Before leaving, she asked him for the necessary notarized authorization for the child to emigrate, but he refused.
When Jenniffer finally arrived in Colombia —the first stage of her migration route— she again requested his signature, with passport and documents in hand. The response was another denial.
The mother even offered to move to Uruguay, where the father was residing at that time, to facilitate the reunification of the son. She did not receive a positive response either.
"He told me no, that when he came of age, he would decide whether he wanted to go with you or with me... that he wouldn't give me the signature until he was of age. What good is it for me then? What do I want it for when he’s an adult?" she recounted with evident frustration.
Jenniffer spent two years in Colombia and has been in the United States for five, accumulating seven years of unsuccessful attempts to reunite with her son.
To refute the abandonment accusations, he pointed out that he did bring another son and his brother from Cuba: "If I hadn't wanted to bring any of my children, I wouldn't have brought my other son who was in Cuba, I wouldn't have brought his brother."
In addition to the physical distance, there is the impossibility of communication. "I can't talk to my son because every time I call, he doesn't answer the phone; they turn it off and tell me there's no signal," she reported, adding, "They don't want me to speak with him so he doesn't find out the truth."
The case reflects a structural problem affecting thousands of Cuban families. Cuban law requires the notarial authorization of both parents for a minor to exit the country, which grants either parent an absolute veto power. The Family Code (Law 156/2022) establishes joint parental responsibility regardless of cohabitation, and the only legal recourse when one parent refuses is to initiate judicial proceedings.
"All mothers in Cuba know that if one day we want to leave Cuba, we have to rely on the fathers who are almost never present, but we have to count on them," said Jenniffer, summarizing a reality that other Cuban mothers separated from their children have also publicly denounced.
This regulation has been documented as a mechanism of blackmail or retaliation in couple conflicts, and the drama of separated Cuban families has continued to grow in recent years.
Jenniffer made it clear that the video does not aim to evoke pity or gain followers: "It's not for sympathy or followers, it's simply so that my son one day learns the true story behind all of this." Her hope is that when the boy grows up and has access to social media, he will find that testimony and learn the truth about why he couldn't be with his mother.
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