The Pro-Trump Cuban Rapper About to Be Deported

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https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/05/23/hes-a-pro-trump-rapper-and-a-cuban-dissident-the-trump-administration-is-deporting-him-anyway-00367085

The Pro-Trump Cuban Rapper About to Be Deported
The predicament of the rapper known as ‘El Funky’ reveals the deeply conflicted anti-Castro and pro-Trump politics of South Florida.



In 2021, like many Cubans and Cuban Americans that summer, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was jamming to “Patria y Vida,” the Grammy-winning protest anthem that became a rallying cry for dissidents in Cuba.


Now, one of the song’s central voices, Cuban rapper Eliéxer Márquez Duany — better known as El Funky — faces removal from the United States. Earlier this month, U.S. immigration authorities denied Márquez Duany’s residency application under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act. He has less than 30 days to leave the U.S. or face deportation and likely imprisonment in Cuba, since his music helped fuel the largest anti-government protests in Cuba in decades.

Despite Márquez Duany’s troubles, Rubio, now the secretary of State, has remained silent. So have other influential Cuban American figures and politicians


If there is widespread awareness about Márquez Duany’s case, it hasn’t yet manifested in action. His plea for help has circulated on social media, but protests, petitions or high-profile interventions have yet to materialize. Even his “Patria y Vida” collaborators have stayed largely quiet.

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Márquez Duany’s plight is striking on several fronts. First, it’s an illustration of how much Rubio has changed while serving under the Trump administration — had the Cuban rapper received such a notice even a year ago, it’s hard to imagine Rubio not speaking up. Second, the rapper’s pending deportation is an example of how quickly President Donald Trump has shifted U.S-Cuban immigration policy. For decades, the U.S. rolled out the red carpet for Cubans arriving in the United States, thanks to a legacy of Cold War policies that positioned the U.S. as a haven for those fleeing Castro’s communist regime. Third and perhaps most striking is Márquez Duany’s attitude toward the president, whose policies pose a direct threat to his safety. Like the vast majority of Cubans living in the U.S., he fully supports Trump.

“If I could vote, I would have voted for Trump,” he says. “He’s the strongest president when it comes to Cuba.”