...and they are all 100% sure that Cuba is an authoritarian dictatorship, Fidel was the Caribbean Hitler, and that everyone in Cuba despises their government and yearns for freedom, but they are just afraid to speak out about it.
Any of discussion of Cuba I've tried to have with US Americans - online or IRL - has gone the exact same way. It doesn't matter the evidence I show or how I clearly know the most about Cuba by far amongst my friends... I'm wrong. Cubans aren't free and the Communist Party has an iron grip on the country and they rule by fear and intimidation. It's just something every US American knows. And oftentimes I'm talking with people who are normally all "science is so cool" types who allegedly believe in "evidence".
Yes Cuba has elections but obviously they're rigged... so I explain how they have sealed boxes and all sorts of safeguards in place for a clean election. And how there are no legit international orgs that claim Cuba's elections are rigged (not like Cuba has to play by western liberal democracy rules anyway). Doesn't matter. Obviously it's all rigged and how dare I defend an authoritarian regime in the first place?!
It's just weird how quickly US Americans shut down when a country like Cuba is discussed and when they obviously don't have a clue what they're talking about. Like, everyone - left and right - likes to talk about how corrupt the US government is. But their brains can't let them even start to question US propaganda. I guess it's not surprising really, I think most Americans don't really think the government lied about Iraq, for example. Even reasonably intelligent and allegedly open-minded people I know just know that Cubans aren't free and gommunism no food, and they will never consider any evidence to the contrary.
And this is all hilarious to me given how US Americans have a comically bad understanding of countries outside the US.
as a US born American who has literally traveled (not tourism, actual travel in rural areas and done homestays) Americans are so ignorant about Cuba that i want to leave the US and live almost anywhere else, because there is a 1000% chance the people there won't be as ignorant about Cuba. reading about the nuts and bolts of embargo prior to and during my trip there was a revelation to me, personally, about how much the US diplomatic mission hates the popular cuban revolution.
even from the perspective that the US is a stupid shitty empire, the extreme and vicious nature of the embargo against Cuba is unique compared to all the other bullshit sanction shit the US pulls to fuck with states/peoples that don't "play ball" with our empire. the US has a blinding rage towards the existence of revolutionary Cuba that has only mostly grown with time. it's the kind of hate that one only has for an entity which presents an existential threat. it's fear. we are not afraid of the cuban military or cuba's economic might. there is no material fear of cuba.
i think the fear is based on the notion that Cuba sets an example for any smaller nation willing to try an alternative to US hegemony, but there is also a grievance against Cuba for "stealing" itself from US-based capital.
something that occurred to me while i was there, looking at the thousands and thousands of once Baller McMansions for elites that were turned into tens of thousands of apartment buildings for regular ass people to live, cook and watch telenovelas between chill walks around the neighborhood to visit with friends and neighbors, unhassled by police and landlords and employers.
a lot of places could totally use a fresh coat of paint and maybe some basic plaster work, which are scarce materials under the embargo. but if you look at the fundamentals of a place like Havana, it's obvious it was absolutely the crown jewel of american empire: a playground for the super rich to spend their winters, waited upon by near-slaves and provided with fine tobacco and spirits grown by slaves. and the insurrection took all that shit away from the gringos and their sycophants.
that experience also gave me a completely new layer of understanding Florida. having lived there for 25+ years, i kinda thought i had it sorted. but seeing what was taken from the US by the Cuban Revolution made it clear that florida's post war hyper-development was executed to make Florida the consolation prize, for having lost Cuba: a place where organized crime runs rampant and is allowed to do so, because it promises to crush any labor movement and keep the wages of the service sector at the bottom. Florida is tied with Arkansas for having the oldest right-to-work laws. it is a playground for wealthy Americans to vacation, winter or retire, waited upon by the desperate eating food grown by people living in shipping containers.
toll roads everywhere, shitty schools, and grifters behind every public resource. it's not coincidence that Trump's physical resort-base is Florida.
I would absolutely love to hear about any of your experiences in Cuba, I'd really love to spend time there (like, significant chunks of time) one day...