The New Life of the Pilot Who Escaped Cuba in a Crop-Dusting Plane in 2022
· Telemundo McAllen (KTLM)
Almost four years have passed since Rubén Martínez Machado fled Cuba in a Russian crop-dusting plane and landed at an airport near the Everglades in Florida. With political asylum granted and a rebuilt life away from the Cuban exile community in Lansing, Michigan, Rubén recalls that October 21, 2022, when he made a solo escape from Sancti Spíritus and landed before noon in Florida. 'I remember it as being filled with fear, I don’t know... Fear, fear of what could happen, but in the end, everything turned out well.' Upon arriving in the U.S., Rubén describes the moment: 'As I was landing, the controller asked who I was and what I was doing, and I told him: I’m from Cuba running from communism. I heard him say ‘oooh’ and he told me to stay in the plane. Then someone came, knocked on the door, I opened it, and he started asking what I was doing. I explained the same: ‘I’m from Cuba running from communism,’ and he said: ‘Welcome to the USA.’ The pilot, who was 29 at the time and worked for the Cuban Air Services Company, was detained for four months after landing in Florida. When asked if his escape was planned or spontaneous, he explained: 'I had been thinking about it for a long time. The problem was finding the courage to do it and seeing when the right moment was, although in the end, nothing goes as planned. If I could turn back time, I would have done it much earlier and in different ways. The problem is that communism doesn’t work, it will never work. How long has it been since I came? 4 or 5 years? And that hasn’t changed; it’s much worse now,' he says. Rubén showed us his new home: an unfurnished house featuring a large American flag. He lives alone with his pet Caramelo and proudly shares photos of his new job as an operator at a recycling company. When asked if he has received threats from the regime, he noted: 'At first, yes, but… this is complicated (...) in the end, I have remained silent.' He explains that this is partly why he did not stay in Florida like most of the Cuban exile community, but there is another reason: 'To be honest, I always expected a bit more support from the Cuban-American community, and I did receive some, but then influencers kind of twisted the story and made it seem like getting views was much more important than fighting for the freedom of Cuba. So I said: well, I see that what’s here is a rat trap, so it’s better not to get involved in this,' he states. Rubén has been accused on social media of being a spy for the Cuban regime, which he vehemently denies. Today, he hopes to start a family and perhaps continue his career as a pilot once his residency is approved.
AI summary · Source: Telemundo McAllen (KTLM) →
