The Venezuelan writer and human rights advocate Marisol Johana Díaz Reyes de Córdova issued a statement on Thursday sent to the editorial team of CiberCuba, demanding transparent responses and concrete measures from the Uruguayan authorities regarding the growing number of asylum requests from Cuban citizens, a situation she described as an ignored humanitarian crisis.
Your complaint arrives a day after Infobae published a report from El País of Uruguay that revealed a staggering gap: around 30,000 Cuban asylum applications pending compared to only 52 individuals of that nationality officially recognized with that status.
"I demand that the authorities explain how long these individuals have been waiting, what obstacles are preventing the resolution of their cases, and what measures they will take. Human dignity cannot be left on a waiting list," declared Díaz de Córdova.
The advocate, a transgender migrant residing in Uruguay, clarified that her demand does not involve seeking automatic recognition of asylum, but rather individual, well-founded, and timely decisions for each case.
"Each case must be examined seriously. But no one should remain indefinitely without a clear answer. Behind a file, there is a person who needs to rebuild their life," he stated.
The data supports the urgency of the claim. According to the Refugee Commission (CORE), by the end of June 2026, there were 30,715 unresolved cases, of which approximately 89% were Cuban. On average, 1,300 applications are submitted monthly, while actual grants have been minimal: only two Cubans were granted asylum in 2025, six in 2024, and seven in 2023.
The Uruguayan Deputy Foreign Minister and president of CORE, Valeria Csukasi, attributed the backlog to "a structural mismatch between the volume of applications and the institutional and operational capacity of the Commission." However, Uruguay has only recognized 52 Cubans as refugees despite decades of mass exodus from the island.
Leydis Aguilera, the alternate deputy of the National Party born in Cuba, was more direct in stating that "leftist governments have not recognized that this is a human rights issue." Sources linked to CORE also pointed out that acknowledging requests based on political persecution would officially imply acceptance that these situations occur in Cuba, something that would compromise the Uruguayan government's position regarding the island.
The contrast with the treatment of Venezuelans is striking: of the 3,244 refugees recognized in Uruguay by the end of 2025, 2,543 were Venezuelans, who benefited from an expedited process that resulted in 842 approvals in 2023 and 659 in 2024.
Díaz de Córdova directly pointed to that inequality: "Human rights cannot depend on sympathy towards a government or the convenience of a party. I demand consistency: the same dignity we defend for some must be defended for all."
The pressure on the Uruguayan system will not ease anytime soon. More than 22,000 Cubans arrived in Uruguay during 2025, and the collapse of the Darién route —with a drop of over 99% in crossings during the first half of 2026— has further redirected Cuban migratory flows to South America.
"It is not enough to speak of dignity in speeches. I demand answers, transparent procedures, and decisions that place people at the center," concluded the advocate, who signs her statement in a personal capacity, without claiming formal representation of the Cuban community in Uruguay.
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