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Elaine Acosta

Elaine Acosta

Socióloga, Doctora en Estudios Internacionales e interculturales por la Universidad de Deusto, Bilbao. He sido Directora del Magister en Sociología en la Universidad Alberto Hurtado (Chile) y directora del Diplomado en Humanismo y Sociedad (UAH-Centro Fray Bartolomé de las Casas de La Habana, Cuba (2009-2016). Mis áreas de investigación son el trabajo de cuidado, las migraciones internacionales, el envejecimiento y las políticas de bienestar. Actualmente co-dirijo el Programa Interdisciplinario de Investigación sobre Familias, Cuidados y Bienestar (CUIFABI). Investigadora en el Cuban Research Institute de la Universidad Internacional de la Florida (FIU)

Photo: Marita Pérez Díaz.

Permanence and changes in the “new” Cuban migration to Miami (II)

Help us keep OnCuba alive here The results of successive FIU Cuba Poll surveys―conducted since 1991―have suggested that the “new Cuban migration” is helping to boost a progressive “political-ideological transition” in the Cuban community in the United States. According to the most recent data (2018), the Cuban community in South Florida is more plural today in terms of its political preferences, its positions on U.S. policy towards Cuba, as well as its relations with the island (travel, remittances, investments, etc.). In the first part of this reflection, we have seen how, in effect, it is a large emigration, but more diverse in terms of its sociodemographic composition, migratory dynamics (transnationalization, circularity and incipient return) and motivations. The political substratum endures, even if it is presented in an intermingled or resignified way through the family, as a unifying referent. This time, we will delve into the opinions emanating from the group discussions we held with Cubans belonging to the most recent waves (post 1995) arriving in Miami, interviewed for a study carried out in September 2019, regarding three points:1 the views on themselves and the different migratory waves of Cubans, political participation and Cuba-United States relations. It’s worth clarifying that this...

Miami 2019. Photo: Marita Pérez Díaz

Permanence and changes in the “new” Cuban migration to Miami (I)

Help us keep OnCuba alive here For Carlos The so-called new Cuban migration to the United States is made up of a large and diverse group that emigrated after the migratory agreements of 1994-1995 and that has continued until today in successive waves. Only between 1995 and 2017 did more Cubans immigrate to the United States than in any of the other stages. The images that circulate regarding this “new migration” refer, roughly, to the apparent depoliticization of this group, represented on the label of the “economic migrant,” whose concerns would be centered on supporting their families on the island, instead of opposition to the Cuban government or their integration into U.S. society. In short, the vast majority continue to be classified as old, but also renewed molds and stereotypes, sometimes stigmas that, as often happens, say little about the diversity of this group, its migratory projects and political positions. In the following lines, I share some preliminary data and findings from a study carried out in September 2019 through group discussions with Cubans belonging to these most recent waves arriving in Miami, in order to build a possible research and debate agenda. Motivations and meanings of migration: more similar...