A young Cuban resident in Guyana shared on TikTok on Tuesday the moment she embraced her family in Cuba again after three years of separation, in a video that captures the emotional reunion and quickly garnered thousands of views.
The protagonist, identified as Lidney on the platform, arrived by car where her family was waiting for her in the middle of the street. Upon getting out of the vehicle, her mother and loved ones rushed towards her and embraced her in a tearful moment of joy.
"Reunion with my family after 3 years. Thank you, my God, for so much," wrote the young woman while describing the clip that lasts three minutes and 18 seconds.
The video is part of a trend that shows no signs of slowing down on TikTok: Cubans who have emigrated returning to the island after years of absence, capturing the moment of their reunion with family. These clips, filled with hugs and tears, regularly go viral and reflect the human drama of the Cuban exodus.
Guyana has become one of the destinations for Cuban emigration, driven by the country's oil boom and the removal of the visa requirement for citizens from the island.
Returning to Cuba is neither easy nor frequent. The cost of tickets can exceed $1,000, a barrier that postpones reunions for years. Visits from emigrants to the island fell by 22.6% in 2025, with only 228,091 returns compared to 294,816 in 2024, making each embrace a particularly rare event for separated families.
In this context, videos like Lidney's —tagged with #reencuentrocubano and #cubanosporelmundo— are shared weekly on social media, featuring reunions that range from three to 20 years apart, depicting similar scenes at airports, streets, and homes throughout the island.
After three years away from her loved ones, Lidney summarized in a few words what thousands of Cubans around the world long to experience: “Thank you, my God, for so much.”
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