Yailén Insúa Alarcón, former director of the Cuban Television Information System and morning program Buenos Días, arrived in the United States on December 19 after a complicated journey through the Darién jungle and being swindled and held in Mexico. “I arrived in the land of freedom on December 19 at 2 in the morning, the day of my birthday. It was something blessed, as I say, it was the best gift they could give me,” the journalist told 14ymedio from Jacksonville, Florida.
insúa arrived in Colombia accompanied by her husband, Boris Luis Llamo Salgado, on February 5, 2022. The journalist planned to make a stopover at the El Dorado airport, in Bogotá, to arrive in Nicaragua and continue, like so many Cubans, on her journey to the United States. But the situation became complicated when Managua refused her entry into the country, leaving her stranded in Colombia. Insúa’s fear was that she would be returned to Cuba and that the authorities would retaliate against her. “My biggest fear is setting foot in the José Martí airport in Havana because I know they will be waiting for me,” told this newspaper.
In mid-February, a Colombian judge granted Insúa and her husband a 48-hour safe-conduct thanks to which they were both able to leave the airport and request asylum in the country.
In mid-February, a Colombian judge granted Insúa and her husband, a member of the Yoruba Cultural Association, a safe-conduct for 48 hours thanks to which both were able to leave the airport and request asylum in the country. But in October, after several months of waiting, the authorities rejected his application. Although the case was in the hands of the Supreme Court, the former pro-government communicator attributes the judicial decision to the electoral triumph of Gustavo Petro.
“Coincidentally, you know that Cuba is the guarantor of the peace talks between the National Liberation Army in Colombia and the government. And, well, it seems that they also decide to side with the Cuban government and not study my asylum request,” he argues. the journalist, who just turned 43 years old.
“There I tell my husband: ‘We have to leave here, we are in danger, they just denied us asylum after so long,'” she continues. At that moment, both decide to follow the route they planned to take from Nicaragua, only starting from much further back and through the dangerous passage of the Darién jungle. According to data from the Panamanian Ministry of Public Security, some 5,530 Cubans crossed that pass between January and November.
“The crossing through Central America was quite easy, despite everything, after I passed the Darien. What was the problem? Arriving in Mexico. It took us twenty-odd days to reach the United States, because when we arrived in Puebla I was detained for 10 days, that’s that is, kidnapped in a house because a coyote cheated us and they wouldn’t let us out of there”, reveals Insúa, who is blunt with what she experienced in the North American country: “Mexico is a mafia”, she affirms.
The journalist and her husband paid again and finally crossed the Rio Grande just four days ago. “When we crossed, the Border Patrol was not there. We walked two kilometers to a highway and there I made a call to 911, which must be registered with my name, saying that we were a group of Cuban migrants. Hondurans, two Peruvians came… We asked that , please, will you send the Border Patrol to pick us up.At that moment the sheriffthey sent us to the Patrol and that’s how I got here, to this country,” he reviews.
“We asked that they please send us to the Border Patrol to pick us up. At that moment the ‘sheriff’ came, they sent us to the Border Patrol and that’s how I got here, to this country.”
Insúa Alarcón was severely attacked, when her arrival in Colombia was revealed, by the influencers Cuban Alexander Otaola. The communicator stated that he was going to warn the media so that they would not allow the journalist to enter, whom he described as an “infiltrator”.
“I called them and told them: ‘don’t give them asylum, don’t give them anything, because these are the people who arrive, they give them asylum, they put them to work at Radio Caracol and from Radio Caracol they begin to saw the floor of democracy Colombian,'” he said on his program Hola! Ota-Ola.
Insúa Alarcón, however, says she suspects that Cuban intelligence has set its sights on her. “Since the media is saying that I came to the United States, coincidentally, I have received 43 friend requests from people I don’t know. So State Security is starting to work,” she concludes.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
