Nicaragua blocked Cuban citizens from entering without visas after suspending an exemption that had allowed them to move through the Central American country toward the United States, according to a confirmation from Nicaragua’s government to The Associated Press.
The decision, made public Sunday, effectively ends a pathway that has long served Cuban migrants trying to reach the U.S. The Associated Press reported that the government confirmed it suspended the exemption that lets Cubans enter Nicaragua without a visa, closing a corridor that had functioned as a bridge for Caribbean migrants traveling north.
For years, Cuban migrants could reach Nicaragua by air and then link up with smugglers there. The smugglers, in turn, helped people migrate through Central America and Mexico before attempting to reach the U.S. border, a route that relied on the visa-free entry window that Nicaragua is now closing, the Associated Press said.
Experts cited by the Associated Press said Nicaragua kept that access open for people from countries including Cuba and Haiti as part of a strategy to leverage migrants fleeing turmoil against the U.S., framed as a way to pressure Washington using migration flows.
The Associated Press also tied the change to the broader political moment in the region, saying it comes amid pressure by the Trump administration on Latin American governments to “fall in line” with its approach for the hemisphere, particularly on migration and security. The reporting cited pressure following a U.S. military operation that deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in early January, with the administration then stepping up pressure on adversary governments such as Cuba and Nicaragua.
At the end of January, the Associated Press reported that Trump threatened tariffs on countries that provide oil to Cuba, adding to an economic and energy crisis on the island and, in turn, fueling further migration pressure from Cuba, according to the Associated Press.
As migration into the U.S. has declined—amid a U.S. migratory crackdown and the elimination of access to asylum on the southern border, the Associated Press reported—Nicaragua’s new rules would create additional barriers for Cubans attempting to reach the U.S., the report said.
The Associated Press said the remaining route for some Cubans is primarily through Guyana, from which migrants often travel through the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama before continuing through other parts of the Americas. The report also said some migrants, when options are limited, have taken precarious boat trips from Cuba to Florida’s coast.