Well, that explains why Cuban cigars are impossible to get since a couple of years...
10% of Cubans left Cuba between 2022 and 2023
101–110 of 1001 posts
Re: 10% of Cubans left Cuba between 2022 and 2023
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
The US should oppose expansionist dictatorships that attempt to alter the status quo via forceful revisionism. That's Russia in Ukraine and China in Asia. I don't see how opposing Cuba achieves anything in the US interests.
I keep seeing this "expansionist dictatorship" applied to China when the USA is discussed. The USA has invaded plenty of countries in the last few decades, has a history of colonialism (Cuba, Philippines, Puerto Rico...sure, less than some European countries, but still). Which countries has China invaded in the past few decades?
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Re: 10% of Cubans left Cuba between 2022 and 2023
#103I wonder what a sensible way forward for Cubans is, and their government. What would it take for the US to lift sanctions (I assume a radical shift within Cuba's government), and for Cuba itself (as a whole) to restructure their government in a way that would benefit them and everyone. Cuba would be a great travel destination. Their cigars aren't as on par anymore as far as I know, but there's potential there, Nicara…
> What would it take for the US to lift sanctions (I assume a radical shift within Cuba's government), and for Cuba itself (as a whole) to restructure their government in a way that would benefit them and everyone.
It's irrelevant. Hard-line socialist countries don't voluntarily decide to change their government: their countries collapse and start over again.
While sanctions on Cuba are irrelevant to the US these days, it doesn't change the fact that Cuba would be a dysfunctional society in any case. Venezuela was a resource rich nation and 7.7 million people fled (>20% of the population). The Soviet Union was one of the most resource-rich entities in the world, with similar failures.
I find it somewhat astonishing that people in tech—an industry built around the belief that well-built systems can produce good results—are so dismissive of the role of agency when it comes to these issues. Somehow it's America's fault that people are leaving Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico... and left to their own devices, those places would be paradise.
Re: 10% of Cubans left Cuba between 2022 and 2023
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most Americans don’t think about Cuba at all, and it definitely isn’t in the news very much (as far as I know, I cut most TV years ago). However, there are lots of Batista supporters and their descendants in Florida. They are politically influential given Florida is an important swing state.
The title of the article is literally that 10% of Cubans left Cuba between 2022 and 2023. Are they Batista supporters too?
Cubans leaving Cuba today are taking advantage of immigration openness that anti-Cuba policies pushed for. Why would they not take advantage of that? They are literally the only refugees who can come to America and get automatic asylum. Why does that exist? Political power from Florida stemming from Batista supporters.
I don’t have any interest in this argument, but the situation between America and Cuba is fairly artificial and politically related.
Re: 10% of Cubans left Cuba between 2022 and 2023
#105It's interesting reading the opinions in the comments on this thread. As a non-US person, I don't have a strong opinion on Cuba. I'd like to visit someday but don't know much about it other than the headlines. Reading the comments here it sounds like a pariah state on the level of North Korea. With 1m people leaving in a year, it clearly has its issues - but lots of the comments here are a good example of how your co…
Maybe ask the Cubans who left the country?
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Re: 10% of Cubans left Cuba between 2022 and 2023
#106I really want people to understand that a sterile term like "economic sanctions" really means "starving them to death". It's not just food. It's the infrastructure necessary to grow food and to have clean drinking water. It's basic medicines, life-saving stuff.
What we, as a country, have done and continue to do to Cuba is absolutely unconscionable.
It affects us too. Over the last 60+ years there have hundreds of thousands or even millions of Cuban migrants to the US. This [1] claims 2.7 million but includes US-born descendants. Cuban migrants aren't a random sample of Cubans. They skew very much anti-Castro, which means by extension they skew very pro-Batista. Definitely right-leaning or even pro-fascist [2[.
Importing fascist or fascist adjacent people who ultimately became voters has changed US politics where Florida is now a safely red state. Here's more on the demographics of Cubans in Miami in particular [3].
I find it interesting how this aspect of immigration is so often missed or glossed over.
There is absolutely no justification for continuing 60+ years of sanctions just because our puppet was deposed.
[1]: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/cuban-immigrants-uni...
[2]: https://time.com/archive/6762287/cuba-batista-backfire/
[3]: https://latinostudies.nd.edu/assets/95278/original/grenchun....
Re: 10% of Cubans left Cuba between 2022 and 2023
#107I support immigration and oppose the Republican anti-immigrant platform because it seems to me there is significant brain drain from many countries to the U.S. and that contributes to our success.
For example, in this article is about white collar crime, it points out that many Somali-Americans were professionals back in Somalia. I'm not concerned about the crime because that seems like a somewhat higher tendency until the 2nd and 3rd generation is able to make it into established society.
A Somali-American former investigator: why you’re hearing about fraud in my community
https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/07/17/a-somali-american-i...
Re: 10% of Cubans left Cuba between 2022 and 2023
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
The US should oppose expansionist dictatorships that attempt to alter the status quo via forceful revisionism. That's Russia in Ukraine and China in Asia. I don't see how opposing Cuba achieves anything in the US interests.
I keep seeing this "expansionist dictatorship" applied to China when the USA is discussed. The USA has invaded plenty of countries in the last few decades, has a history of colonialism (Cuba, Philippines, Puerto Rico...sure, less than some European countries, but still). Which countries has China invaded in the past few decades?
Did you say "last few decades" to conveniently exclude their invasion of Vietnam? Not that it matters. Policy should not be made based on a naive extrapolation of historical track record. Culture, interests and leadership are all things that change over time.
Modern China, like Russia, but unlike other autocracies such as Cuba or Saudi Arabia, is a revisionist power - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revisionist_state
Their publicly broadcasted intention is to change the status quo, forcefully if needed. That's a euphemism for invading Taiwan. They keep saying it, over and over. Beyond that, there's a militarism, nationalism and irredentism that permeates Xi's leadership and the culture he has created in his country, which did not exist to the same extent under Deng. The confluence of such factors have historically been a bad omen.
This does not mean that the US should start a war with China. It means the US should pivot its focus to Asia and continue the policy of containment, which is a maintenance of the peaceful status quo through a combination of sticks and carrots. It means the US should be aware that there is a rival there who may start a war on their own terms and on their own schedule when they believe they are capable of defeating the US.
Re: 10% of Cubans left Cuba between 2022 and 2023
#109Cuba's economy is not doing well because of the illegitimate and illegal US embargo. End the blockade. Take Cuba off the completely farcical State Sponsors of Terror list. Let Cuba live! Cuba developed its own COVID vaccine but couldn't give it to its own people because they could not buy metal for syringes. Its fucking crazy.
> illegitimate and illegal US embargo
Illegitimate and illegal according to what authority? Unless you believe in God, there is no higher authority than the US government and its military might.
Re: 10% of Cubans left Cuba between 2022 and 2023
#110I wonder what a sensible way forward for Cubans is, and their government. What would it take for the US to lift sanctions (I assume a radical shift within Cuba's government), and for Cuba itself (as a whole) to restructure their government in a way that would benefit them and everyone. Cuba would be a great travel destination. Their cigars aren't as on par anymore as far as I know, but there's potential there, Nicara…
Why does the US still have sanctions on them anyway? The missile crisis was 50 years ago. It's time to forgive.
The message is: if you refuse to be our puppet state and play by our rules, we will destroy you for as long as it takes.
Anyone who believes the US acts to punish evil authoritarians in defense of freedom and democracy is delusional. Look at our allies in the middle east.