Cuban Asylum Seekers Flood Brazil as Conditions Deteriorate at Home

Cuban refugees have surged into Brazil, with authorities handling more than 90,000 applications, including 35,000 filed in the first seven months of 2026, overtaking Venezuelan claimants. The flow began in 2025 via a difficult Amazon route and now often follows a Havana-Georgetown flight, overland travel through Guyana, and a river crossing at the Tacutu before reaching Boa Vista, where UNHCR and the Jesuit Service for Migrants and Refugees (SJMR) provide orientation and employment guidance.

Migrants, many of whom are merchants, professionals, accountants or state-company employees, are increasingly settling in southern cities like Curitiba, which they dub the "new Miami," and Florianópolis, attracted by better healthcare and job prospects. Policy shifts—President Trump's restrictive immigration stance, Nicaragua’s visa requirement for Cubans, and Guyana’s visa-free entry—have redirected the exodus toward Brazil.

While Cubans receive the same rights as Brazilian nationals except voting and military service, their asylum cases are processed individually, leading to longer waits compared with faster lanes for Venezuelans, Syrians and Afghans. Nonetheless, they can work immediately and benefit from Brazil’s universal public health system.