Roberto Blanco, a Cuban doctor, published an emotional story on Facebook about his family's escape from Cuba to Brazil, where he describes the chasm between the life he left behind and the uncertainty he faced upon arrival, concluding with a statement that encapsulates the struggle of thousands of fellow citizens: material possessions were lost, but freedom was gained.
Blanco recounted that in Cuba he owned his own house, practiced medicine, and was able to access dollars thanks to family remittances. Upon arriving in Brazil, that world vanished.
"In Cuba, I was a doctor, I had my own house, I left behind family, I was one of the fortunate ones who could get dollars thanks to the 'blessing' of remittances, I never lacked food..." he detailed.
"Here I am nobody in someone else's land. Here I have no home. Here I am not a doctor. Here I have the money I brought," he admitted. But he concluded, "My family and I, however, have everything essential that a human being needs to live: health and freedom."
The decision to emigrate, as he explained, was not a dream but a moral obligation that arose with the birth of his son.
"When I became a father, my worldview changed; a greater commitment was born, one that surpassed many of my previous dreams—a commitment to my son's happiness and future. A strict duty towards his health, education, and overall development, along with the even greater obligation to ensure that he would always be free," he wrote.
The journey was not easy. The family left Cuba on July 14 - a date visible on the tickets from Cubana de Aviación that appear in the photos of the post - and made a stop in the Dominican Republic before heading into South America.
"We crossed Suriname, French Guiana, and a large part of Brazil... by plane, boats, cars, buses... at dawn, during the day, in the afternoon, or at night. We arrived," he described.
Upon stepping into Brazil, the doctor was overwhelmed with emotion. "I looked in the mirror and asked myself if I could reinvent myself. Looking at these photos, I convinced myself that I could," he confessed.
Blanco acknowledged that he is fortunate and concluded his post with a reflection that blends pain and hope: “Many people in Cuba, although it’s not what it should be, dream of being able to leave. I sincerely wish for their lives to improve, for politics to change, and that one day they can dream of traveling for pleasure and not just to survive, to be safe, or to have the chance to keep dreaming. It seems utopian, but I have faith.”
The testimony is not an isolated case. Cuba lost nearly 30,800 doctors between 2021 and 2024, going from 106,131 to 75,364 physicians in the public system, according to data from the National Office of Statistics and Information.
The regime classifies doctors as "regulated population" under Decree-Law 306 of 2012, requiring them to seek authorization from the Ministry of Public Health to emigrate, a process that can take years and which Human Rights Watch has labeled repressive. Despite these obstacles, thousands choose to leave.
Brazil has become one of the main destinations for this exodus. In 2025, there were 41,919 asylum applications from Cubans in that country, accounting for 55.4% of the national total, surpassing Venezuelans for the first time in a decade.
Between January and April 2026, another 13,414 Cubans applied for asylum there.
Related videos:
Filed under: