Yasmany Moreno de Armas, a Cuban deportee to the Central African Republic (CAR), travels through the detention centers in Bangui to gather fellow countrymen and Nicaraguans in one location, while acting as a liaison between immigrants and their families abroad.
According to videos he posted on Facebook that have garnered thousands of views, Moreno has already obtained authorization from a UN official to relocate Cubans to the organization’s center and is managing the paperwork so that Nicaraguans can also join.
"We've already spoken with the UN officer, who is going to allow us to take them to our center, because we are Latinos, to bring them together. The Cubans have already been authorized to leave with us," he asserts.
The videos have had a direct impact on the families of the deported. Moreno reports that thanks to the recordings shared on social media, people who had gone as long as ten days without any sign of life were able to be located.
"Thanks to you, yesterday all the relatives of those young men who had been out of contact were able to connect. They wrote to me privately, and I was able to communicate them with all their family," says one of the reels published on their profile.
Moreno also warns that the situation will not end soon: according to information from UN officials, a new group of deportees is on the way. "Now more people will arrive in three days; they are already on the flight," he noted.
"If by any chance, God forbid, they send a relative here, please contact me. Let's write in private; I will come, pick them up, and take them to the care center where we are," he said in a direct message to the families of potential deportees.
The situation of the deportees in Bangui is critical. One of the three Nicaraguans sent to the CAR at the end of August—the first citizens of that country sent to Africa under this policy—described their reality with a powerful statement: "There is no water, there is nothing, we do not have the conditions."
According to reports from El País, the deportees were handcuffed during the flights, remain confined without freedom of movement, and do not have immigration documents that legally allow them to stay in the country.
The UN, through its MINUSCA mission, provides them with food, but has not resolved their legal situation.
Moreno arrived in Bangui on August 1, 2026, in the second group of 30 deportees sent from the United States to the CAR.
The first group arrived on June 13 with 25 people. Both groups are part of the deportation policy to third countries of the Trump administration, applied to migrants from countries of origin—such as Cuba and Nicaragua—that do not accept or restrict direct repatriations.
The agreement between Washington and the RCA was signed in May 2026 and included a payment of 85 million dollars.
Among the Cubans deported to Bangui are also Arístides Fernández García, detained by ICE after leaving a migration hearing in Miami with a work permit valid until 2030 and a pending asylum application, and Daniel Fuentes, a 31-year-old trans woman who lived in Miami and was arrested by ICE in March 2026.
Moreno sums up the dimension of the problem with a warning that goes beyond his personal case: "Anyone can fall into this situation, even if they have papers and no offenses."
At the beginning of September, both Moreno and Fernández García regained some hope upon learning that their cases had been reopened by judges with favorable outlooks according to their lawyers, although their situation in Bangui remains unresolved.
Las deportaciones a destinos inusuales como África son parte de un panorama migratorio en constante cambio. Sigue toda la actualidad sobre para estar informado sobre cómo estas políticas afectan a cubanos y latinos.
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