Brazil’s Federal Police (PRF) rescued 108 Cuban nationals who were smuggled into the country in a single day, according to a statement from the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Security on Tuesday, April 8.
This is the largest humanitarian rescue operation ever recorded in a single incident in Roraima state, located in the Amazon rainforest, bordering Guyana and Venezuela. According to the Ministry of Justice, most of the Cubans used Guyana as a gateway into Brazil.
About 57.6% of Cuban immigrants in Brazil currently live in Roraima or Amapa, another northern border state. Since 2024, the PRF said it has “rescued” approximately 297 migrants and asylum seekers in Roraima, the majority of whom are Cuban.
In Monday’s incident, police carried out three separate arrests. The first involved a convoy of three cars that tried to flee when signaled to stop, inside which 39 Cubans, including children, were transported “in poor conditions.” Many said they had not eaten for at least two days.
In the second case, police found eight Cuban immigrants after seizing a vehicle that had illegally crossed the border. In the third, authorities tracked a vehicle suspected of human trafficking to a house, where 61 Cubans were discovered.
All 108 people were transferred to authorities to “stabilize their immigration status and transition into the social support network.” Five “coyotes”—human traffickers—were arrested in the Safe Route operation, launched in December 2024.
According to the 2025 annual migration report from the Ministry of Justice, the flow of Cubans into Brazil was stable or declining over the past decade until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, from 2022, this wave began to “strongly recover.” Notably, in 2025, the number of asylum applications from Cubans surpassed those from Venezuela, not only because of a drop in applications from Venezuela but mainly due to a surge in Cuban applications, exceeding 40,000 requests.
Cuba is facing a growing humanitarian crisis due to a de facto fuel blockade from the United States. Since January, no foreign oil has been allowed into the island nation, except for one Russian tanker. The U.S. threatens high tariffs on any country that seeks to supply oil to Cuba. As a result, many areas suffer from widespread blackouts, and people struggle to access food and medicine. Critics fear this pressure will lead to a new wave of migration.
The migration report also warns that if geopolitical tensions between Cuba and the U.S. escalate, the flow of migrants into Brazil could increase. U.S. President Donald Trump, in his second term, has suggested the possible use of force to change the regime in Cuba.
