Cuban Exile Icon: "I'm Deported"

Santiago Álvarez Fernández-Magriñá, a prominent Cuban exile and businessman now aged 84, disclosed in an interview with CiberCuba that he exists in a legal gray area in Miami. Although technically deported from the United States, no other country has accepted him, and one steadfast promise keeps him going: "I've promised all my friends in Cuba that I won't die until I return."

Álvarez clarified that he never renounced his Cuban citizenship nor became an American citizen, despite having served in the U.S. Armed Forces. "After serving a three-year sentence (for his efforts in Cuba's liberation struggle), they tried to deport me, and I am deported. I have no legal status in the United States. They attempted to send me to several countries, but none would take me. So, here I am for Cuba," he stated.

The businessman left Cuba in 1959 at the age of 18 and has spent over six decades opposing the regime. In 2007, he was sentenced to four years in prison for obstructing justice by refusing to testify about Luis Posada Carriles' illegal entry into the United States. After serving his sentence, he found himself stuck in this migratory limbo that he describes with a mix of irony and resolve: "My work is to fight for Cuba. And I'll keep doing that as long as I live."

A Fight Against Injustice

One of the most poignant moments in his interview with CiberCuba journalist Tania Costa was his tribute to Félix Navarro and his daughter Saylí Navarro, both imprisoned following the July 11, 2021 protests with sentences of nine and eight years, respectively. Álvarez offered to facilitate their exit from Cuba in exchange for lifting their sentences. Their response was resolute: "They say they'll die in prison but won't abandon their homeland. Neither father nor daughter."

The regime even barred Saylí's mother, also a Lady in White, from visiting her daughter unless she wore colors other than white. Saylí conveyed a message Álvarez repeated with admiration: "Mom, I don't want to see you ever again. Don't visit me unless you come dressed in white." The regime has denied Saylí Navarro visits for over three years, under conditions international organizations have condemned as degrading.

Support for Political Prisoners

Álvarez also mentioned Sissi Abascal, a Lady in White sentenced to six years in November 2021 for the July 11 protests, who recently underwent surgery for an ovarian issue. "We're trying to help," he said, similar to their efforts with José Daniel Ferrer when his health severely deteriorated before he reached exile in Miami in October 2025.

On his support work for political prisoners' families, Álvarez was clear: he has never sent a single dollar to Cuba under the dictatorship. "I have to help Cuban families with Cuban pesos that are in Cuba" to avoid financing the regime, he explained. His organization channels thousands of dollars monthly in this way, assisting over 150 families of prisoners.

Controversy and Unity

Despite being labeled a terrorist by the regime, some Miami exile factions accused him of betrayal for attending meetings on small and medium-sized Cuban enterprises as an observer. When questioned about opposition figures running for political positions in Cuba without any change on the island, Álvarez refrained from adding fuel to the fire.

His response was one of unity. "I am incapable of speaking publicly against any other organization. Even if I don't like it. If they're against Fidel Castro, they're not my enemy. I didn't come here to divide. I want to win."

Álvarez concluded with hope rooted in the new generation. He remarked that the regime's closure of emigration has turned would-be emigrants into opposition, with young people aged 16 and 17 being jailed for opposing the regime today. "Young Cubans are no longer thinking about leaving the country. They're thinking about change," he asserted.