Both have contacted a law firm to begin the process and have requested the support of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 31 March 2025 — Cuban activists Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca and his wife, Eralidis Frómeta, have initiated asylum application procedures in the United States and have requested the support of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after the revocation of their Humanitarian Parole.
Frómeta explained this Monday, in statements to EFE, that she and her husband, who worked in Cuba as an independent journalist, have contacted a law firm to start the asylum process to avoid having to return to Cuba, which they left last June.
“We are now in contact with some lawyers and are waiting for them to send us the document that we need to apply for the asylum process. We have to try,” said Frómeta, who added that after almost nine months in the United States they continue to recover “physically and psychologically.”
The activist explained that they have already contacted “several influential people” to try to generate support in their favor
This weekend the couple received the official communication informing them of the revocation of their humanitarian parole by executive order and their obligation to leave the United States before April 24.
Frómeta indicated that the lawyers were confident that the implementation of the political asylum procedure will suspend the self-deportation order, although she acknowledged that uncertainty is currently high.
The activist explained that they have already contacted “several influential people” to try to generate support for them and that their case has already reached “congressmen and senators,” in addition to the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and the Cuban activist Rosa María Payá, founder of the NGO Cuba Decide.
Valle and Frómeta left Cuba for the United States last June under humanitarian parole. Valle was sentenced to five years in prison in 2022 for contempt and sharing enemy propaganda and was released on the condition that he leave Cuba. His state of health had deteriorated significantly.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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