Nicaragua Closes Key Route for Cuban Migrants Heading to the United States

Nicaragua has imposed a new visa requirement for Cuban nationals, effectively closing a crucial migration pathway to the United States. This decision marks a significant shift in the region’s migration dynamics.

For many years, Cuban migrants have relied on Nicaragua as a gateway, flying into the country before connecting with smugglers who would facilitate their journey north through Central America and Mexico to the U.S. border. This longstanding route has now been disrupted, as reported by The Associated Press.

The Nicaraguan government officially announced on Sunday that it has revoked the visa-free entry previously granted to Cuban citizens, according to the AP. This policy change follows heightened tensions between the U.S. and Cuba, underscored by former President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency in late January. The executive order accused the Cuban government of aligning with adversarial nations and supporting terrorism, while also targeting countries exporting oil to Cuba.

In a related scene, a man is seen walking past an empty gas station near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, on February 7, 2026, a stark visual reminder of the island’s ongoing struggles. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP)

A man walks past a gas station that has run out of fuel, located near the U.S. Embassy, pictured in the background, in Havana, Cuba, Feb. 7, 2026. (Ramon Espinosa/AP)

What remains for Cuban migrants is primarily Guyana, a small South American nation where Cubans have also traveled in order to reach the U.S. 

From Guyana, migrants normally travel through the perilous jungle trenches of the Darien Gap dividing Colombia and Panama.

In the past, migrants with few other options have also taken precarious boat rides from Cuba to Florida’s coast.

Cubans wait in line outside the Nicaraguan Embassy in Havana, Cuba, on Feb. 9, 2026. (Norlys Perez/Reuters)

In Trump’s executive order, the president said Cuba aligns itself with and provides support for “numerous hostile countries, transnational terrorist groups, and malign actors adverse to the United States,” naming Russia, China, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. 

The administration said Cuba hosts Russia’s largest overseas signals intelligence facility, which the order states attempts to steal sensitive U.S. national security information.  

Last November, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Democracy is on trial in the coming Elections in the beautiful country of Honduras on November 30th.”

“Will Maduro and his Narcoterrorists take over another country like they have taken over Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela?” he asked.

A man holds his passport while waiting to enter the Nicaraguan Embassy in Havana, Cuba, on Feb. 9, 2026. (Norlys Perez/Reuters)

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro was captured in a U.S. military operation in early January.