It’s not just in-bound tourism, I probably made the mistake of emphasizing the cruises. Notice I said that Cubans from outside of America were able to travel to visit family, and vice-versa. If it was such a hellscape, why would people choose to travel back to Cuba after leaving?
If it was not a hellscape why would Cubans still be leaving to declare asylum elsewhere?
Both that claim and your claim are verifiable and true. So clearly there’s something going on that’s not as simple as “is this country a good or bad place to live”. The answer seems to be it depends. Clearly there is some kind of wealth disparity within the country.
Some would argue these immigrants were the formally wealthy class fleeing the revolution, and that was initially true. But that was just over 60 years ago now. This doesn’t explain modern asylum seekers very well.
To be fair I think a lot of Cuba’s struggles and failures are a direct result of decades of US embargo and interference.
Some would argue these immigrants were the formally wealthy class fleeing the revolution, and that was initially true. But that was just over 60 years ago now. This doesn’t explain modern asylum seekers very well
To be fair I think a lot of Cuba’s struggles and failures are a direct result of decades of US embargo and interference.
This I can agree with. I don’t think Cuba is like…HEAVEN for people living there, by the way. But I also disagree that it was an “absolute hellscape” before the Trump Admin 1.0 came in and destroyed any forward momentum the Obama administration created towards fully lifting the embargoes, and I don’t think (as far as I know) the Biden administration did as much to reverse them. The last 12 years is really what has cemented the hardships in Cuba (and Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Nicaragua etc) are suffering from, and this is reflected in the stories of the (non-American) Cubans I hear from daily around me.
Then you have fuckers like Rubio pushing for taking over Cuba “for their own good” and to “save the country” and like… I’m sorry if I feel like residual bitterness of my Cuban friends and family towards American Cubans pushing this narrative colour my view.
It’s not just in-bound tourism, I probably made the mistake of emphasizing the cruises. Notice I said that Cubans from outside of America were able to travel to visit family, and vice-versa. If it was such a hellscape, why would people choose to travel back to Cuba after leaving?
If it was not a hellscape why would Cubans still be leaving to declare asylum elsewhere?
Both that claim and your claim are verifiable and true. So clearly there’s something going on that’s not as simple as “is this country a good or bad place to live”. The answer seems to be it depends. Clearly there is some kind of wealth disparity within the country.
Some would argue these immigrants were the formally wealthy class fleeing the revolution, and that was initially true. But that was just over 60 years ago now. This doesn’t explain modern asylum seekers very well.
To be fair I think a lot of Cuba’s struggles and failures are a direct result of decades of US embargo and interference.
This I can agree with. I don’t think Cuba is like…HEAVEN for people living there, by the way. But I also disagree that it was an “absolute hellscape” before the Trump Admin 1.0 came in and destroyed any forward momentum the Obama administration created towards fully lifting the embargoes, and I don’t think (as far as I know) the Biden administration did as much to reverse them. The last 12 years is really what has cemented the hardships in Cuba (and Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Nicaragua etc) are suffering from, and this is reflected in the stories of the (non-American) Cubans I hear from daily around me.
Then you have fuckers like Rubio pushing for taking over Cuba “for their own good” and to “save the country” and like… I’m sorry if I feel like residual bitterness of my Cuban friends and family towards American Cubans pushing this narrative colour my view.