I Came All the Way from Cuba So I Could I Speak Like This? Cuban and Cubanamerican Literatures in the US

Abstract

After 1959, because of the Cuban Revolution, a permanent flood of people, of different ages, social strata and expectations left the major island of the Antilles. Most of them went to the United States, where immigration was encouraged for political reasons. Cubans started a process of conflictual and sometimes agonized adaptation. But a miracle occurred: arriving in the US, settling mainly in Miami, the Cuban community managed to become successful, first in business, later in liberal professions and even in local politics. Social scientists who have studied Cuban immigration after 1959 have stated that the causes of that ‘miracle’ were twofold: on the one hand, US state political interests, trapped in a hostile relationship with Fidel Castro’s government; on the other, the networking abilities of the Cuban family and community.¹