How Youtubers destroyed the Cuba myth
Travel vloggers have showcased what the media don't
After 66 years of Communist rule, Cuba is experiencing a catastrophic social, economic and demographic collapse. If it was prudent not to put a timeframe on regime collapse, it’s now not beyond the realms of possibility that Communist rule in Cuba will not survive the decade, or perhaps not even make it to the end of Trump’s second presidency.
The economy, and especially the tourism industry, has not recovered from COVID as tourists prefer to go to the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Argentina. As young Cubans despair about their prospects of the island, an exodus has resulted in a fall in population. Many just want to live a normal life like everyone else.
Moreover, the regime is no longer able to disguise the crisis engulfing the country. And part of that has been due to the fact travel vloggers on Youtube have showcased the reality of life in Cuba, unscripted and unguided. Not at tourist resorts, showcase clinics, et al. But the dismal living conditions, shortages of food and medicine, and the stoicism of ordinary people.
Western progressives in media and academia have long whitewashed Cuban Communism, and many governments played a role in keeping it afloat. Today’s technology has beaten them all. They can’t run, and they can’t hide. And these vloggers have shown us what professors and students alike won’t admit: that Communism is evil, and it doesn’t work.