Eric Gonzalez Among 69 Cubans Deported to Bangui: "We Fear for Our Lives"

Broadcasting from Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, Eric Gonzalez Peña and his companion Jesus Perez expressed their deep fear in a live stream with Tania Costa on CiberCuba this past Saturday. "We fear for our lives because when we go outside, we see many armed people. Truly, it's terrifying what we've been through since we left," they shared.

Eric Gonzalez, a 44-year-old Cuban resident in Texas, was deported along with his wife, an American citizen, and their three-year-old son. He was part of a group of 90 immigrants—69 of whom were Cubans, including five women and 64 men—who were deported on October 21 from Alexandria, Louisiana, to the African nation. His wife, Isabel Estua, born in the United States, recounted in an interview that her husband was detained by ICE in March at his workplace, a Texas-based oil company, and was transferred to El Paso and then Louisiana without any information about the final destination.

The last contact Isabel Estua had from her husband was on Wednesday, October 21, from a Louisiana airport. By Friday, ICE only confirmed that Eric Gonzalez had been "removed," without specifying where. Eric himself, after purchasing a phone with the money he had on him, called Isabel at 8 a.m. Saturday morning. "He said, 'My love, are you awake?' I replied, 'Yes, I haven't slept.' He then told me, 'I'm in Africa,'" Isabel recounted.

According to testimonies from Eric Gonzalez and Jesus Perez, none of the deportees were informed of their flight's destination. It was only mid-air that they were told they were headed to "Central Africa," without specifying the country. When they refused to continue, they were restrained. "They tied us with straitjackets and gagged us with handcuffs on our hands and feet," Eric described. The journey lasted roughly 50 hours, during which they remained chained and isolated. "We were 50 hours chained in the plane, unable to even sleep," he added.

Upon arrival in Bangui, the UN sheltered them in an apartment building, providing clothing, vaccines, and basic malaria medicine. Nonetheless, their situation remains dire: they lack documents, have no legal status, and cannot work. Isabel Estua, citing information from Yasmani Moreno—a Cuban deported to Bangui months earlier who stayed to receive them—warned that the deportees are "practically like hostages. They can't do anything." Moreno had previously reported extreme conditions at the location, including untreated malaria cases.

The night before the group's arrival, gunfire erupted near the building where Moreno awaited them. The U.S. State Department classifies the Central African Republic as Level 4—"Do Not Travel"—due to armed conflict, militias, kidnappings, and health risks.

Isabel emphasized that her husband has no criminal record, had a pending habeas corpus, and a judge had set November 1 as a protection date to prevent deportation until his case was reviewed. The family's lawyer was preparing to reopen the case when the deportation occurred. "I'm an American citizen; I was born here, and we're legally married. I know my rights, and I know that what they're doing is illegal," Estua stated, adding that Eric's name never appeared in ICE's locator, not even while he was detained.

Cuba refuses to accept these deportees, making the Central African Republic a de facto destination. A Human Rights Watch report published on October 8 indicated that between January 2025 and August 2026, the U.S. transferred nearly 28,000 people to over 50 countries not their own, 536 of whom were sent to African nations, without giving them a real chance to contest the deportation.

Jesus Perez, speaking from Bangui, summarized the group's sentiments: "We're going to seek help, seek any information that might somehow protect us, because we also don't know how long we'll be here." Isabel Estua concluded the interview with a phrase that encapsulates her family's despair: "I never thought this would happen in the land of freedom."

This incident is part of a broader series of immigration measures affecting Cubans in the United States. Follow all the details in our U.S. Immigration section.