18 Facts About Cuban exiles

Emigrants in the exodus known as "Cuban exiles" have come from various backgrounds in Cuban society, often reflected in the wave of emigration they participated in.

Originally many Cuban exiles debated the dialogue's usefulness some were satisfied with the invitation while others doubted the sincerity of the negotiations believing it to be a publicity stunt.

Between 26 April and 1 October 1980, during the Carter administration, probably one of the most significant waves of Cuban exiles occurred during what became known as the Mariel Boatlift.

President Clinton, trying to stem the flow of Cuban rafters, pressed a dozen Latin American governments to provide internment camps that officials hoped would prove more attractive to refugees than the U S Navy base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

From May 1995 through July 2003, about 170 Cuban exiles refugees were resettled in eleven different countries, including Spain, Venezuela, Australia, and Nicaragua.

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Small Cuban exiles communities were formed in Miami and across the United States and populated with small Cuban exiles-owned businesses.

Cuban exiles used Spanish language skills to open import-export businesses tied to Latin America.

Between 1965 and 1968 the Cuban exiles government interned LGBT people in labor camps called the Military Units to Aid Production.

Communities of gay Cuban exiles formed in the processing centers that formed for those applying for entry to the United States.

Many Cuban exiles believed their stay abroad was temporary and that most political focus should be on the overthrow of Fidel Castro in actions such as the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

Cuban exiles would grow more politically diverse, often reflecting their social class, generation, or even participation in counter-cultural movements of the 1960s.

Debate within the exile community became incredibly apparent after the visit of the Antonio Maceo Brigade to Cuba and following diplomatic dialogues, many Cuban exiles became split with some supporting dialogue and travel with Cuba and others who opposed.

The main myths surrounding the Cuban exodus are the idealised vision of pre-revolutionary Cuba known as the Cuba de ayer, and the legendary financial success of Cuban exiles known as "Golden exiles", comprises the Cuban success story.

The Cuban exiles who fled after 1959 are viewed as majorly white, and had no general desire to leave Cuba but did so to flee tyranny.

Cuban exiles who uphold this image of the Cuba de ayer view their version of Cuban culture as more desirable than American culture, and that it is best to recreate their lost culture of the Cuba de ayer in the United States.

Critics of the idea of the Cuba de ayer claim it is a nationalist myth created for white Cuban exiles that ignores the reality of Cuban life before 1959, and embraces an exotic vision of Cuba.

Social researcher Jorge Duany has argued that the myth of the "Golden exiles" or the idea that most Cuban exiles are wealthy, well educated, and highly skilled unlike other immigrant populations, "does not do justice to the complex and diverse experiences" of the Cuban-American community.

The emigration of Mariel Cuban exiles set the precedent of the first homosexual immigrants being allowed into the United States, on the grounds that they were ultimately anti-communist refugees.