Manuel Alejandro Marrero Medina, son of Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, had been accepted as a beneficiary of the Biden administration’s “Humanitarian Parole” program before U.S. authorities ultimately denied him flight permission entry, Martí Noticias reported on Thursday.
In January 2023, the administration of President Joe Biden, through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), established a “Humanitarian Parole” process that allows up to 30,000 Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan citizens per month to request entry into the United States.
Beneficiaries of the program must count on the financial support of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who acts as a “sponsor.” Upon a “clear and robust security vetting” and successfully obtaining all required approvals from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the beneficiaries are granted advanced authorization to travel to the United States and are allowed to stay and work for a period of “up to two years.”
As of mid-April, a combined total of more than 435,000 Venezuelan, Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Haitian nationals have reportedly entered the United States as beneficiaries of the Humanitarian Parole process.
While the Humanitarian Parole program is meant for victims of the authoritarian regimes of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, as well as Haitian nationals fleeing from the rampant gang violence that has engulfed the Caribbean nation, reports indicate that individuals affiliated with Cuba’s communist regime have managed to enter the United States as beneficiaries of the program — including family members of Cuban Prime Minister Marrero Cruz.
Martí Noticias, a U.S-based outlet that focuses on Cuba, stated in its report that Marrero Medina had been approved as a beneficiary of the parole program, but the required flight permission — the last step of the parole process before being allowed to travel to the United States – was denied, which prevented him from flying into the United States.
Marrero Medina, 31, is the firstborn of Cuba’s communist prime minister and reportedly worked for the Cuban military-owned Gaviota tourism company, which his father was the president of before being designated prime minister in 2019. The prime minister is not the head of the Cuban government; the most powerful person in Cuba is the head of the Communist Party, Raúl Castro. President Miguel Díaz-Canel is also a figurehead subordinate to Castro.
While Marrero Medina was denied entry to the United States, sources close to the Cuban prime minister’s son told Martí Noticias that Marrero Medina’s mother — Solange Medina — a sister, and one of his aunts presently live in the United States.
In April, Martí Noticias reported that two nieces of Cuban Prime Minister Marrero Cruz are now living in Cape Coral, Florida. One of the nieces, the outlet stated, entered the United States through the southern border, while the other was a beneficiary of the Biden administration’s parole program.
Martí Noticias reported that Medina Marrero described himself as a “travel lover, makeup and photography addict” on social media. Before deleting all of his accounts, Medina Marrero boasted extensive photos and videos that showcased luxurious international travels that Cubans — subject to decades of gross inhumane living conditions and extreme poverty under the Castro regime — cannot possibly partake in.
El es Manuel Marrero Jr., un cubanito que vive en #Cuba, que no pasa hambre, no se le va la luz ni el agua, que tiene ropa, que vive una vida de lujos, porque su papito Manuel Marrero, hoy Primer Ministro de Cuba, se ha dedicado a esclavizar y oprimir a millones de otros cubanos. pic.twitter.com/1C0nLV9Hae
— Cristian Crespo F. 🇨🇺 “La noche no será eterna” (@cristiancrespoj) December 22, 2019
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Similarly to Marrero Medina’s case, Liván Fuentes Álvarez, the former president of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power on Isla de la Juventud — the communist regime’s highest-ranking local authorities — was denied the flight permit to travel to the United States after being approved as a beneficiary of the Humanitarian Parole program.
Fuentes Álvarez’s eventual successor as head of Isla de la Juventud’s Municipal Assembly of People’s Power, Arelys Casañola Quintana, resides in Kentucky alongside her son and is now requesting asylum under “fear of socialism.”
The Biden administration allowed entry to U.S. territory to Casañola, according to a report published by Martí Noticias on Thursday.
Casañola reportedly entered through the U.S. southern border and requested asylum through the Biden Administration’s CBP One application, a platform used by migrants to enter U.S. territory.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
