{"id":325487,"date":"2025-07-08T17:23:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T21:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=325487"},"modified":"2025-07-08T17:23:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T21:23:01","slug":"life-on-the-razors-edge-the-case-of-willliam-and-viviana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/world\/usa\/life-on-the-razors-edge-the-case-of-willliam-and-viviana\/","title":{"rendered":"Life on the razor\u2019s edge: the case of Willliam and Viviana"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1980, during the Mariel incident, a young couple was sitting on a park bench in a town in rural Havana, not far from that location.<\/span><\/p>\n

An older man informed them that the Cubans in Miami were sending for relatives and that Fidel Castro\u2019s government was letting everyone leave, even if they had no family ties.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA new <\/span>Camarioca<\/b><\/a>,\u201d he told them, referring to the exodus of 3,000 Cubans, roughly speaking, that took place between September and November 1965 through the town of Matanzas of the same name.<\/span><\/p>\n

William and Viviana<\/span>1<\/b><\/sup> were put on one of those boats after declaring themselves \u201cantisocial elements\u201d to the authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

2<\/b><\/p>\n

Miami wasn\u2019t easy. There weren\u2019t many job offers amidst a widespread rejection of the \u201cMarielitos,\u201d a new term that would become part of the vocabulary ever since, associated with negative stereotypes about Cuban immigration.<\/span><\/p>\n