Marielito

[ mahr-ee-uh-lee-toh; Spanish mah-rye-lee-taw ]

noun

, plural Ma·ri·e·li·tos [mahr-ee-, uh, -, lee, -tohz, mah-, r, ye-, lee, -taws].

1. a refugee from Cuba who came to the U.S. in 1980 as part of a mass migration that sailed from Mariel, Cuba.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Marielito¹

First recorded in 1980–85; from Latin American Spanish (Cuba), equivalent to Mariel, the port from which the migration began + -ito noun suffix, usually diminutive

Example Sentences

By 1983, the film Scarface had even fictionalized a Marielito as a druglord and violent criminal.

From Time

The authorities were able to locate Sira and reunite them; he was the first Marielito to arrive in the Bay Area.

From Time

In this week’s magazine, Jon Lee Anderson writes about the entrepreneur Hugo Cancio, a former Marielito who has positioned himself as a sought-after intermediary for American investors, politicians, and celebrities travelling to the new Cuba.

From The New Yorker

One afternoon in Miami, Cancio drove me around in his black 7 Series BMW, passing Fourth and Collins, where the Marielito had pulled a gun on him and his sister.

From The New Yorker

In Brian De Palma’s 1983 remake of “Scarface,” the vicious drug dealer Tony Montana is a Marielito.

From The New Yorker