Exposing Cuba: A Country Where People Have No Rights
Cuba is known for its bright and colorful scenery, joyful people, and vibrant social scene-basically, everything countries in the Caribbean embody. But behind all that curtain is a heartbreaking picture of oppression and desolation.
Sixty years ago, communists seized power over Cuba. While the media portrays the country to be a luxurious tourist spot, the reality is much worse.
In 2019, a team of four Turning Point USA producers took a trip to Cuba to see whether the glamorous social media photos showing happy citizens were real. They came home to America with one stern warning.
It's all a lie.
'Famine'
A row of mango marmalade at a Cuban grocery store
A row of mango marmalade at a Cuban grocery store
The state government controls the Cuban economy. The government collects all resources and allocates them to cities across the nation 'equally.'
The country, which is presented online as a replica of its 1950s Caribbean life, is now suffering from stagnation, poverty, famine, and other social issues.
People have to wait for an hour, sometimes more, to fill their gas tanks. The cars sit under the sweltering heat, with some literally pushing their vehicles along the line because they ran out of gas while waiting.
Citizens often rush inside grocery stores, only to find an entire row stocked with one brand of garbanzo beans. The only meat option they have is pre-packaged burger patties. There are no fresh fruit, no fresh vegetables, no fresh meat, not even different food options.
All food is rationed and provided by the government. With no access to healthy, fulfilling food, Cuban people are struggling to provide the necessities they need to feed their families.
'Crumbling Walls'
A crumbling residential infrastructure in Cuba
A crumbling residential infrastructure in Cuba
Citizens who once lived in beautiful mansions now live in crumbling infrastructure on streets filled with trash and reeking of filth. Flies inhabit the sidewalks found just a block away from tourist areas.
The neighborhoods are filled with such large amounts of trash that they resemble a small dumpsite. The Cuban people are forced to live in these places where there is an apparent lack of proper sanitation.
Walls that were once painted in varying shades of wild colors are now dull and grey. Buildings that may have once served as residential infrastructures are now abandoned, barricaded, and broken.
The city resembles those from a war-torn country. Some people, however, still live in ruined buildings.
'Oppression'
TPUSA producers being held by immigration authorities
TPUSA producers being held by immigration authorities
When the TPUSA team arrived in Cuba, one of the producer's passport was held for seven hours after authorities found a drone in his bag. After being allowed to enter the country, the team of four thought the worst was behind them.
The nightmare began when armed authorities started "banging down the door" the morning before they planned to leave the country. The men, they said, demanded access into their room and all their belongings---including their recording devices and the documentary footage.
The producers got on the phone with the US Embassy, who asked them to leave the country. Immediately.
The Cuban government has long since prevented journalists, bloggers, and even the general population, from publishing any work that is critical of the government.
In 2015, a graffiti artist was locked up after he painted the names of two Cuban leaders on the back of two live pigs. He was thrown into prison for ten months without a formal charge.
The same year, state authorities blocked the doors of a media company to prevent local journalists from covering a protest coordinated by human rights groups. The police controlled who went in or out of the company's office from dawn till late in the afternoon.
Less than 25 percent of Cubans use the internet. The ownership of personal computers and DVDs are also forbidden. According to Amnesty International, only five percent of all homes in Cuba have access to the internet, making it the most disconnected country in the Americas.
Cuban citizens continue to live in the broken promises of a utopia to this day. With hardly any access to information and basic necessities, their society struggles to grow and prosper. Their government's socialist regime has stripped them of their natural rights and freedom to express and disseminate information.
"Watching them live in turmoil pisses you off," a TPUSA producer said, "These people, they don't know any better. They don't know natural rights."
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