The Grandmaster of chess Lázaro Bruzón commemorated this Sunday the eight years since his arrival in the United States with an emotional Facebook post in which he described what he found in that country as "the model of many of the things I wish for a future Cuba: functioning institutions, real opportunities, respect for freedom, and room to grow."
In the message posted on his Facebook profile, the chess player from Holguin accompanied his words with a family photograph taken at an airport on the day of his arrival in July 2018, when he came with his partner and their small child.
"Eight years ago, I arrived in the United States to start a new life. I came with optimism, but also with many doubts and questions about the future. Today, I understand that it takes immense courage to start practically from scratch in another country, with a different culture and language. My situation was not the most common: I came with an established career and recognition in Cuba," he wrote.
Bruzón, born in Holguín in 1982, earned the title of International Grandmaster at the age of 17, was the youth world champion in 2000, and won the Cuban national championship six times, ranking among the 26 best players in the world in 2005.
The political disenchantment and the feeling that in the island "the ceiling was too low" for further growth led him to leave Cuba in July 2018.
After his departure, the National Chess Commission expelled him from the national preselection in September of that year, claiming that he did not want to process a travel permit. Bruzón denied this version, calling it full of "lies" and expressed feeling betrayed.
Since 2020 he has been competing under the American flag and has studied Finance at universities in Missouri, remaining active as a player and coach.
In her post this Sunday, she did not hide the gratitude she feels: "There hasn't been a single day that I haven't deeply thanked God and this country for welcoming my family and me. I have learned and grown more in these eight years than in all the previous ones."
The post generated a wide response among compatriots who resonated with her experience. Her partner, Senia M. González Vidal, summed up the significance of that journey in three words: "your best departure."
A follower reflected on the shared experience of Cubans abroad: "It's up to one to use what served in their previous life to make it and move forward." Another summed up the feelings of many: "Your life story (outside of chess) is more inspiring than your achievement as a Grandmaster of chess... you are a GM of life!"
The account of Bruzón is set against the backdrop of the largest exodus in the recent history of Cuba. Between 2022 and September 2024, more than 850,000 Cubans arrived in the United States, according to data cited by El País. In 2024 alone, independent estimates raise the number of emigrants to over 545,000 people.
Bruzón has increasingly adopted a critical stance towards the Cuban regime since his emigration. Last June, heonce again criticized the regime's "cyber fighters" and reaffirmed his rejection of the island's political system, stating that he will only return to Cuba when the country is "free and democratic."
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