A Cuban resident in the United States posted a video on TikTok on Sunday that quickly became a warning message for all emigrants who, overwhelmed by difficulties, are considering returning to Cuba.
Frank Aguilar Victorero started the video with a phrase that many Cuban emigrants have thought at some point: "I'm going back to Cuba. Yes. At least I can't take it anymore. I've installed my solar panels. I'm going to be with my family, with my people, and at least I'll feel like I'm home."
But what followed was not the announcement of a return, but a stark reflection on the emotional traps that lead to that decision.
Aguilar Victorero candidly described what it means to live without documents in a country that does not recognize you: “There are days when I feel trapped in a vast country, without papers; doors close on you, finding a job becomes an odyssey, and you end up feeling as if you've done something wrong when all you came looking for was an opportunity.”
On top of that burden is the loneliness, the endless cycle of work and expenses, and the question that every immigrant inevitably asks sooner or later: “Was this the American dream? Work and pay and pay and work—when do we get to live?”
However, the core of the message is not the complaint but the warning: in that moment of vulnerability, voices from the environment emerge that urge a return.
"Be careful, be careful, because sometimes it’s not the country that is deciding for you, it's the noise around you," pointed out the content creator, urging his followers to identify where the advice they receive is coming from.
"Don't seek advice from those who only know how to complain. Surround yourself with people who have grown, who have built something, and who can show you a way when you can't see one," he added.
The distinction that Aguilar Victorero makes is clear: he does not condemn the return, but he does condemn surrender. "If one day you decide to return to Cuba, return, but because you chose to, not because someone who surrendered convinced you to surrender."
The video concluded with a phrase popularized by Joaquín Sabina in his song "Peces de ciudad," whose literary origin is attributed to the Spanish poet Félix Grande: "To the place where you have been happy, you should not try to return." Aguilar Victorero used it to remind us that often nostalgia is not for the place itself, but for the life that was lived there.
"Focus, surround yourself with good people, and endure like a strong horse, because after all you've been through, you deserve the opportunity," he concluded.
The video amassed over 60,000 views, nearly 3,800 likes, and more than 500 shares in less than two days, reflecting how much this dilemma resonates within the Cuban community abroad.
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