Her sister, Yaneris Redondo, now expects the courts to summon her for the same process, which will allow her to proceed with her political asylum application
14ymedio, Havana, September 27, 2025 — Mariana Fernández León, after being sentenced for participating in the ’11J’ protests of 11 July 2021, fled to the U.S. on a raft. She was approved this week in the “credible fear” interview given by U.S. immigration authorities. Relieved by the recognition, which is rarely given to rafters, the Cuban woman explained to the local press that she is still waiting for the interview with her sister, Yaneris Redondo León, who arrived with her in Florida.
Last June, both had expressed fear on social media after their political asylum case was dismissed. “Today we are afraid that we will be denied this protection,” said Fernández on social networks, because “returning [to Cuba] could amount — without exaggeration — to being sent directly to death.”
The young woman gave few details about the legal process she and her sister face in the U.S. but suggested that her case was one of many that have been closed or hindered with the new policies of Donald Trump, which has happened in recent months with several of the routes opened by the previous administration for migrants to apply for asylum.
Receiving recognition of “credible fear” is therefore a step forward in her case for political asylum, she told Telemundo 51. According to a lawyer consulted by the media, her case had been closed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), which “did not have jurisdiction to adjudicate that asylum case,” because the interview of “credible fear” had not been conducted. Shortly afterwards they managed to reopen it.
The family is now waiting for the immigration courts to summon Redondo to conduct the same interview and continue with both women’s asylum applications.
At ages 18 and 30 respectively, Fernández and Redondo participated in the massive protests that took place in the neighborhood of Mantilla
At ages 18 and 30 respectively, Fernández and Redondo participated in the protests that took place in their neighborhood of Mantilla, in Havana — and across the Island — in July 2021. During the demonstration, they were pepper-sprayed, beaten and detained. “I was locked up with my sister for 15 days without a court order. During detention we suffered psychological abuse, death threats and medical neglect,” she has reported on previous occasions.
Both were released from prison after their family paid bail of 2,000 pesos, and during more than a year awaiting trial, they were obliged to report regularly to the police and sign documents under threat of being sent back to prison if they were involved in any act of dissent.
In July 2022, they were finally taken to court for contempt, attack and public disorder, crimes that, according to Fernandez, were “fabricated” by State Security. Both were found guilty. Redondo was sentenced to seven years in prison and Fernández to five, later reduced to four years of house arrest.
They were notified that they had 72 hours to voluntarily surrender to the authorities and process their return to prison. “In the face of imminent repression and well-founded fear of what awaited us, we made the most difficult decision of our lives: to flee our country. On November 13, 2022, after a journey of more than 16 hours by sea, we arrived at an uninhabitable island, exhausted and without clear direction, but with hope intact. We managed to survive that dangerous crossing [with 40 other Cubans] and finally reach U.S. territory, where we requested political asylum,” she said after arriving.
Now in the country, Fernández even had to be hospitalized “as a result of extreme physical exhaustion during the flight.” The young woman has continued to spread her case on social networks in hopes of obtaining asylum and not being deported with her sister to Cuba, where they could suffer reprisals for escaping.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.