Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: Zuzel Jimenez

I was born and raised in Manzanillo, a port city in the Granma province of Cuba. Growing up on the island in the late 1980s and early 1990s was exceptionally tough. That era in Cuban history is known as el Período Especial or Special Period. There was actually nothing special about those years; it was an incredible period of extreme economic crisis brought on by the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba’s biggest ally at the time. The economic depression caused everyday resources like gasoline and even food to be rationed to an extreme level. My mother and father fought hard to make sure I not only had the basic necessities I needed to survive, but that I had access to a proper education.

As I got older, my parents realized that the only way I would be able to reach my full potential was if I left Manzanillo and went to college in Havana, the country’s capital. I ended up moving in with my grandmother and graduated from the University of Havana in 2004, with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance.

At that time, because of the economic hardship, the Cuban government began sending professionals in fields like finance and medicine to Venezuela for work. They offered me a job as an accounting professor in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. I knew this was probably the only opportunity I was going to get to get out of Cuba, so I wasted no time in saying yes. I was 24 years old, and it was my first time leaving the island. I had no family in Caracas, nor did I have any friends – just a few distant acquaintances. My ultimate goal was to go to Venezuela, then travel into Mexico, and then head to the United States.

I was young, naïve, and had no idea what I was getting into. I heard my entire life that the Americans were responsible for everything that went wrong in Cuba. Still, I was willing to take a risk because I knew that I had no future on the island; if I stayed, I’d never be free.

The journey from Cuba to the United States took me about a month and a half. My innocence and lack of knowledge worked in my favor throughout the entire process, because I was never afraid. In my mind, it was simple, there was no other option. During my brief stay in Venezuela, I was fortunate enough to have made friends who helped me obtain the necessary documents to travel to Mexico. Once I got there, immigration officials did not make it easy for me to get into the United States. I had to bribe them with the little money I had to make it to the Texas border.

Once I touched American soil, I finally felt safe. Unfortunately, that feeling was short lived. I ended up having to spend 30 days in an immigration detention facility. I had no contact with my family, and I knew they were worried sick. However, I also knew that it was the price I had to pay for my freedom. I left Cuba on December 12, 2004; I was released from the detention facility in El Paso, Texas on January 29, 2005.

When I arrived in Miami, I didn’t know more than a few words in English. I wasn’t able to communicate. I immediately enrolled in English courses at Miami Dade College, and after one year of hard work, I had advanced my language skills enough to enroll in a master’s degree program in accounting at St. Thomas University, all while I was working as a junior accountant. Not too long after, Jackson gave me the opportunity to join its budget team, and now, five years later, I’m honored to be the chief financial officer at Jackson South Medical Center

Leaving Cuba 12 years ago was the best, yet most difficult decision of my life. While I am truly blessed and fortunate to be where I am today, I know that I wouldn’t be as strong as I am, and I wouldn’t appreciate everything I have as much as I do, if I was raised anywhere other than Cuba. I’m incredibly proud to be Hispanic, and more importantly, Cuban.

Zuzel Jimenez
Chief Financial Officer
Jackson South Medical Center