Gusano, Spanish for “worm,” was a pejorative term coined by the Castro regime and popularized by its supporters to describe Cubans who fled the island in the years following the Cuban Revolution. To Cubans well versed in the Marxist theory that underpinned the revolutionary project, the word is an easily recognized reference to “parasites,” or those who establish serially predatory, “parasitic” relationships with the working classes. Landlords, the owners of farms and factories, and elites in control of sugar plantations in Cuba would have been described as parasites, or worms, and so the word has deep political connotations for Cuban people.

In the immediate period surrounding the revolution, wealthy Cubans fled the country. They were all characterized as gusanos, as were successive waves of exiles. The term was revived with special fervor during the Mariel boatlift, and Ojito recalls seeing dozens of political posters depicting the would-be exiles as cartoon worms posed in all sorts of offensive and humiliating poses. “Gusano” became an easy, recognizable insult to hurl at those who did not support the Castro regime, and it is a characterization that remains meaningful for anyone in Cuba or the Cuban diaspora.