4 ms·

Cuba let 20% of the population leave in 2020-24 so that they would have fewer dissenters in the country who might overthrow the government. Thats a higher rate

Cuba let 20% of the population leave in 2020-24 so that they would have fewer dissenters in the country who might overthrow the government. Thats a higher rate of population per year than the peak of the great Irish famine

mothballed 5mo ago
Where does one go with one of the weakest passports in the world, no assets, no family connections, and probably only sporadically any skills capable of getting a work visa? I need to get on speed dial whatever immigration lawyer those people had.
- daedrdev 5mo ago
  I can't find the article but I did read a few years ago most had left to either Mexico or the US. The US had a very favorable program for cubans to enter, work and stay in the country under the Biden admin. The cuban government via National Office of Statistics and Information admitted it fell by at least 10%, but have not done a census in 15 years. Independent estimates range form 18-24%.
pasquinelli 5mo ago
if they don't let people leave to prevent total state collapse then they're starving their own people (by means of the american trade embargo); if they do let people leave, it's to tighten their stranglehold on the country.
- kyboren 5mo ago
  Any way you slice it, such an exodus is never the sign of a well-managed country.
  - pasquinelli 5mo ago
    i'd love to see america "manage" the conditions america has imposed on cuba.
    - palmotea 5mo ago
      > i'd love to see america "manage" the conditions america has imposed on cuba. The single biggest problem would be rebuilding the US manufacturing base. Once that happens, the US would be fine. America's probably capable of autarky: it's got the natural resources, population size, and technology.
      - pasquinelli 5mo ago
        so we would manage the conditions we've imposed on cuba by just simply not having those conditions.
        palmotea 5mo ago
        > so we would manage the conditions we've imposed on cuba by just simply not having those conditions. The US didn't impose the condition of being a resource-poor island on Cuba, nor did it impose the condition of economic mismanagement on it (apparently so bad even the Soviets complained about it). The US imposed the condition of a trade embargo, and that's it.

mothballed 5mo ago

Where does one go with one of the weakest passports in the world, no assets, no family connections, and probably only sporadically any skills capable of getting a work visa? I need to get on speed dial whatever immigration lawyer those people had.

daedrdev 5mo ago
I can't find the article but I did read a few years ago most had left to either Mexico or the US. The US had a very favorable program for cubans to enter, work and stay in the country under the Biden admin. The cuban government via National Office of Statistics and Information admitted it fell by at least 10%, but have not done a census in 15 years. Independent estimates range form 18-24%.

pasquinelli 5mo ago

if they don't let people leave to prevent total state collapse then they're starving their own people (by means of the american trade embargo); if they do let people leave, it's to tighten their stranglehold on the country.

kyboren 5mo ago
Any way you slice it, such an exodus is never the sign of a well-managed country.
- pasquinelli 5mo ago
  i'd love to see america "manage" the conditions america has imposed on cuba.
  - palmotea 5mo ago
    > i'd love to see america "manage" the conditions america has imposed on cuba. The single biggest problem would be rebuilding the US manufacturing base. Once that happens, the US would be fine. America's probably capable of autarky: it's got the natural resources, population size, and technology.
    - pasquinelli 5mo ago
      so we would manage the conditions we've imposed on cuba by just simply not having those conditions.
      - palmotea 5mo ago
        > so we would manage the conditions we've imposed on cuba by just simply not having those conditions. The US didn't impose the condition of being a resource-poor island on Cuba, nor did it impose the condition of economic mismanagement on it (apparently so bad even the Soviets complained about it). The US imposed the condition of a trade embargo, and that's it.