Comment by pembrook | Hacker News Reader

Comment by pembrook | Hacker News Reader

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What's happening in Cuba has no resemblance to what happens in Southern Europe.

In Southern Europe, talent leaves for better job opportunities and higher salary. In Cuba, people are literally fleeing to achieve basic human rights and 21st century quality of life.

I'm not sure if you've been to Cuba before, but having visited in the late 2010s, it's a caricature of life in a communist dictatorship.

Internet wasn't allowed, except for in certain public parks at certain times of the day, only on phones with certain websites, and with dial-up speeds.

The sum total of fresh food in grocery stores was 1 type of government ham, 1 type of government cheese, eggs, a few fruits, and that was basically it.

I could go on. It's a beautiful island country, but please don't fall for the silly idea that US sanctions or european-style "brain drain" have anything to do with the reason Cubans are leaving.

Authoritarian communist dictatorships are no joke.

Whatever the reason, it's not so far fetched to assume the brightest are the first to leave. Or maybe the bravest, the most confident... I don't know. But better anyway.

I’ve known some very recent Cuban immigrants. They have a lot in common with economic migrants.

Plenty of folks get started working for the state industry or university. Then they hop on a plane to America via Canada and claim citizenship.

I’m confident there are still traditional political refugees, but they coexist with “company men” wanting more pay.

I mean, sure, you can rephrase "fleeing a communist dictatorship" as "company men wanting more pay." But it dramatically understates the issue.

Moving from Madrid to Amsterdam to get a higher salary is not what we're talking about here. I don't think someone from Madrid would start weeping at the sight of a Dutch grocery store.

When Spain talks about brain drain, they're worried about 1-2% of their population leaving over decades. Not 10-20X than in a year.

Virtually all Cubans, regardless of educational attainment or employment status, would kill for a shot at life in a democratic, free-market country, be it Spain or the Netherlands. Hence why they're leaving.

I was about to share some of the traits of Cubans I know that serve as strong counter examples.

Then I realized this is all public, and Cuban intelligence services spy on the diaspora.

Censorship by proxy sucks.

I’ve run into this before with Chinese and other nationalities. I don’t know what’s safe to say, and what could get someone in trouble. So the ethical thing is to say nothing, unless it’s really important.

It sucks that foreign powers can censor a conversation like this, but they can.

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