ES / EN
OnCuba editorial staff

OnCuba Staff

Photo: Voice of America.

Humanitarian parole: Only 50 arrive in U.S. in November, none of them Cuban

The number of migrants arriving in the United States through the humanitarian parole program in November was only 50, among whom none were Cuban citizens. According to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a total of 531,670 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans arrived legally in the country, where they obtained conditional freedom according to the parole programs. The number of Cubans, however, remained the same as it had been reported in October, at 110,240. On the other hand, authorizations fell for Cubans from 110,980 in October to 110,970 in November. The humanitarian parole program, established in January 2023 by the Joe Biden administration to facilitate the legal entry of citizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, remains practically paralyzed. The program began to show signs of stagnation last August, when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported irregularities in the handling of cases. Since then, reviews have resulted in an almost total freeze. Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, has promised to eliminate the program by executive order on his first day in office. Trump has referred to the humanitarian parole program as “ineffective, riddled with fraud and an economic burden on taxpayers.” Immigration has been a...

Cristian Nápoles, Cuban triple jump athlete. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

Cristian Nápoles, the “new Cuban athlete”: sports, music and entrepreneurship

What is it like to be a high-performance Cuban athlete today? This was the question that came to mind when I was about to talk to triple jumper Cristian Nápoles. The conventional athlete who only cared about training and being the best in his specialty, at least a decade ago, has mutated. Now, while maintaining their sports discipline, these athletes have, at the same time, new interests. While active, they start businesses, are creators of content for social media, aspire to be influencers and promote themselves as artists. This is the case of Nápoles, 25 years old and a native of Marianao, Havana, who is also a world and Pan American medalist. His story of redemption is worth telling. In less than a year, he went from being excluded from the national team and unable to participate in the Barrientos Memorial, to being a bronze medalist at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Life, almost always unfair, allowed Nápoles to have his moment in a jump this time. A few centimeters less, a bad step, a few badly placed spikes, and this story would be different. Cristian Nápoles, Cuban triple jump athlete. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez As a child, he liked...

Page 1 of 109 1 2 109