Almost four years after starring in one of the most unusual escapes in recent Cuban history, Rubén Martínez Machado lives in Lansing, Michigan, with granted political asylum and a rebuilt life far from the Cuban exile community in Florida.
In an interview with Telemundo 51, the pilot spoke about his current life, reviewed his escape from Cuba, discussed the months of detention, and explained why he chose to move away from South Florida.
A new life in Michigan
Today he lives alone in Lansing with his pet Caramelo, works as an operator at a recycling company, and proudly displays a large American flag at his home.
He is waiting for his permanent residency to be approved so he can resume his career as a pilot, the profession that once helped him cross the Florida Straits and leave the dictatorship behind.
Recognizes having received threats from the regime: "At first, yes, but... this is really complicated (...) in the end, I have stayed silent".
That is one of the reasons why it was not installed in Florida.
The other is his disappointment with certain sectors of the Cuban-American community:
"If I'm honest, I always expected a bit more support from the Cuban-American community, and I did receive some, but then influencers seemed to distort the narrative, making it seem like gaining views was much more important than fighting for Cuba's freedom. So I thought: well, I see that this is just a rat trap, so it’s better not to get involved in this."
Rubén was also accused on social media of being a regime spy, a claim he vehemently denies.
A decision that he/she does not regret
Regarding whether the escape was an impulse or a premeditated plan, Rubén was direct:
"I had been thinking about it for a long time. The problem was finding the courage to take action and knowing when the right moment was, although in the end, when you actually do it, nothing goes as planned. If I could turn back time, I would have done it much earlier and in different ways."
And he added a reflection on the reality he left behind: "The problem is that in the end, communism doesn't work and it never will. How long has it been since I came? 4 or 5 years? And that hasn't changed; it's much worse."
The flight that changed everything
On October 21, 2022, Martínez Machado took off from the El Cedro airfield in Sancti Spíritus, aboard an Antonov AN-2 - a Soviet biplane used in Cuba for agricultural spraying - and landed before noon at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in the Florida Everglades.
He was 29 years old and was a pilot in the tenth pilot course in Cuba, where he worked for the Cuban Air Services Company.
"I remember it with fear, I don't know... fear, fear of what could happen, but in the end, everything turned out fine," he said about that day.
Regarding the flight, he had previously confessed: "I was flying low and worried that someone might be following me. At one point, I focused and said, let whatever happens happen."
The landing and the arrest
Upon touching down, the encounter with the authorities was etched in his memory:
"While landing the plane, the controller rather asked me who I was and what I was doing, and I said: I'm coming from Cuba fleeing communism. I heard him say 'oooh' and he told me to stay on the plane. Then someone came, knocked on the door, I opened it, and they started asking what I was doing. I explained the same thing: 'I'm from Cuba running from the communism,' and he said: 'Welcome to the USA.'"
However, the welcome was not immediate.
The authorities denied bail on two occasions and held him in detention for four months at the Pompano Beach center, while the Cuban regime described his escape as an "act of air piracy" and State Security detained his mother and sisters in Santa Clara.
From the detention center, the pilot expressed his anguish: "They might not, they are going to kill me, it's no longer a question of whether they will do it or not, it's that they are going to do it."
The fear was justified: the Cuban Penal Code in effect since December 2022 includes the death penalty for crimes against air navigation safety.
Asylum and Freedom
On February 23, 2023, after a hearing lasting at least four hours, an immigration judge in Miami granted political asylum to Martínez Machado. The prosecution raised no objections.
His attorney, the Cuban-American Eduardo Soto, celebrated the ruling: "The pilot stays in the United States! From the beginning, I believed in my client, I believed in my ability, and I believe in American law, and in the end, we triumphed."
The next day, now free, Rubén stated: "I always trusted that the United States could welcome me."
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