The term "Cuban exile" refers to the many Cubans who have sought alternative political or economic conditions outside the island, dating back to the Ten Years' War and the struggle for Cuban independence during the 19th century. In modern times, the term refers to the large exodus of Cubans to the United States since the 1959 Cuban Revolution and in particular the wave of (now) Cuban American refugees to the U.S. during the years 1960 and 1980.

More than one million Cubans of all social classes have left the island to the United States, and to Spain, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Sweden, and other countries; however, until 1980 most exiles from Cuba were of the upper or middle classes and predominantly white.

Prominent exiles have included writer José Martí, who spent many years in Spain and the United States in the 19th century raising support for Cuban independence from Spain. Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl spent nearly a year and a half in Mexico (1955–1956), after being amnestied from prison. Fidel briefly visited the United States during his tenure in exile to raise support for the Cuban revolution. Since the revolution, prominent exiled figures have included Carlos Franqui who relocated to Italy; Huber Matos, who was imprisoned by Castro's government for twenty years after resigning his governmental position in 1959 before relocating to Miami; and Guillermo Cabrera Infante the prominent Cuban writer, who relocated to the United Kingdom. Ernesto Alvero; Pinnacle Healthcare, CEO & founder (Salinas, CA via Freedom Flight). Reinaldo Cruz was one do the first Cuban rafters in August of 196

Ann Louise Bardach is an American journalist and non-fiction author. Bardach is best known for her work on Cuba and Miami and was called "the go-to journalist on all things Cuban and Miami," by the Columbia Journalism Review having interviewed people such as Fidel Castro, Juanita Castro, Luis Posada Carriles, E. Howard Hunt, Orlando Bosch and Felix Rodriguez.

Bardach's books include Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana and Washington,, cited as the authoritative book about Cuba under Raúl Castro and one of The Miami Herald's "Ten Best Books of 2009". “Without Fidel", wrote Tom Wolfe, "is news between hard covers by a relentless reporter who writes like a dream." Her best known book previous to Without Fidel was Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana and her journalism has been anthologized in KILLED: Journalism Too Hot To Print and Mexico in Mind. Bardach was a contributing editor at Vanity Fair for ten years and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, The New Republic and Los Angeles Times. She has guested on many US television programs including 60 Minutes, Today, Dateline NBC, CNN, The O'Reilly Factor, and Charlie Rose. Bardach started the "Global Buzz" column for Newsweek International and the Interrogation column for Slate.

Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is the junior United States Senator from Florida, serving since January 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives (2007–2009).

Born to Cuban immigrants, Rubio was raised in Miami, Florida, and Las Vegas, Nevada. He attended Tarkio College and Santa Fe Community College before graduating from the University of Florida. He earned his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996 while interning for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. In the late 1990s he served as a City Commissioner for West Miami. Rubio was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000, representing the 111th House district. He was elected Speaker in November 2006.

Rubio announced a run for U.S. Senate in May 2009 after incumbent Republican Mel Martinez resigned. Initially trailing by double-digits against the incumbent Republican Governor Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed him in polling for the Republican nomination. Rubio won the Republican nomination after Crist opted instead for an independent run. In a three-way split against Crist and Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek, Rubio won the general election in November 2010 by a 19-point margin.

José Basulto (born Jose Jesus Basulto Leon in 8 August 1940 in Santiago de Cuba) is the leader of the Cuban exile organization Brothers to the Rescue. This group, whose stated purpose was to assist Cuban emigrant rafters fleeing from the country.

Basulto is considered a terrorist by the Cuban government.

Since the Cuban Revolution, Basulto participated in various activities intended to subvert or overthrow the Cuban government. After the revolution, he was trained by the CIA in intelligence, communications, explosives, sabotage and subversion in Panama, Guatemala, and the United States. He was later placed back into Cuba, posing as a physics student at the University of Santiago to help prepare the ground for the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

In 1961, under CIA sponsorship, Basulto infiltrated Cuba for a commando operation intended to sabotage an alleged missile site, a mission which was ultimately aborted. In August 1962 he took a boat to Cuba and fired a 20 mm cannon at a hotel, though nobody was killed in the incident.

René González (August 5, 1918 – May 9, 1982) was a Cuban professional baseball player. A native of Cienfuegos, Cuba, González was a first baseman/outfielder who batted and threw right-handed.

González was a consistent hitter who spent most of his career in Mexican baseball (1947–1949, 1951–1956), where he won three consecutive batting titles (1952–54) including the Triple Crown in 1952. An eight-time .300 hitter, he collected 1144 hits in 3459 at-bats for a .331 batting average during nine seasons.

In 1950, González played for the New York Cubans in the Negro Leagues. Then, during the 1950–51 Venezuelan baseball season he finished with a .357 batting average and led the league in home runs (10), RBI (56), hits (74), doubles (18) and slugging % (.739). Later, in the 1951 Caribbean Series he led the Venezuelan offensive with a .333 average and two home runs and his 11 RBI led the tourney.

González also played in Cuba and Nicaragua up until 1958, his last season. Following his baseball retirement he returned to his Cuba homeland, where he died at age of 63. In 1993 he was elected into the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame.