2022
Record exodus and a new family code
A historic wave of migration sees hundreds of thousands of Cubans leave for the United States, while voters approve a progressive Family Code legalizing same-sex marriage.
2022 captured the paradoxes of contemporary Cuba: a record-breaking exodus alongside a landmark social reform.
The largest migration wave
Amid deepening economic collapse and the crackdown following 11J, Cubans left in numbers exceeding even the Mariel and rafter eras combined. Hundreds of thousands traveled overland through Central America and Mexico to the U.S. border, a quieter but far larger exodus than the dramatic sea crossings of the past.
A progressive Family Code
In a national referendum, voters approved a sweeping new Family Code that legalized same-sex marriage and adoption and expanded family rights — a genuinely progressive reform, though one promoted by a government that allows no independent political opposition.
Why it matters
The year underscored a hard truth: social liberalization on some fronts coexists with political repression and economic desperation severe enough to empty the island of its young people.