By the late 1940s, Prohías had begun working at El Mundo, the most important newspaper in Cuba at the time.

With his professional career in limbo, Prohías left Cuba for New York on May 1, 1960, working in a garment factory by day and building a cartoon portfolio for Mad by night.

During an interview with the Miami Herald in 1983, Prohías gloated, "The sweetest revenge has been to turn Fidel's accusation of me as a spy into a moneymaking venture.

"[3] Two years after Prohías's debut in the magazine, cartoonist Sergio Aragonés made the trek from Mexico to New York in search of work.

Because Aragonés's command of English was then shaky, he asked that Prohías be present to serve as an interpreter.

"[4] Twelve years later, Mad writer Frank Jacobs reported that Prohías's conversational English was limited to "Hello" and "How are you, brother?"