A lot of people who live in Cuba today are struggling.  You might be wondering why? Or how? As you probably know, Cuba is a country with very low development. Why? Since the revolution triumphed, at 1959 to be exact Cuba became a communist. Fidel Castro is the man who caused the revolution and became Cuba’s president, who ruled for 48 years. This was Cuba’s biggest impact because it stayed in the development of 1959. The revolution happened because there was a very big gap between the rich and the poor, and Fidel Castro wanted to bring “equality” for all the country. Of course, his goal was not completely mastered because people are still suffering today, and life in Cuba is still not “fair”.  This research is done to investigate why Cubans despite the challenges that they are facing, such as limited freedom of expression, limited opportunities to earn money (development status) and their process to full education, are not escaping.

To start with, a challenge that Cubans face is that they have limited freedom of expression. Why is life not fair in Cuba? Their country is a communist, so the government gives an amount of food to every citizen per month so that everyone has the same. Also, everyone earns the same amount of money, meaning that if you work more than someone else, it is useless. Almost every company in Cuba is the government’s, meaning that the majority of the citizens work for the government. Some believe that this has an effect on what people think about their country because many Cuban people are threatened to stay quiet and not share their opinions. Others, just feel that they owe themselves to their country, because of all the aid that the government has given them. In sum, life in Cuba is not completely fair.

Furthermore, Cubans have a very limited amount of opportunities to earn money, however, a high percentage of their country really LOVES their country and see Fidel Castro as their hero. The revolution impacted the country for good and for bad. A lot of people who don’t live in Cuba, see Castro as a horrible person because of all the limits and control that the government had on top of the Cubans. This made Cuba stay at the development level of 1959, which means that almost all the architecture is from that year or below and all the technology including cars and machines are also from that year or below. Another fact is that when the revolution triumphed in 1959, around 1.4 million Cubans migrated to the United States. According to Havana Times, it is almost impossible for a Cuban person to travel because it is very expensive. In sum, there is very little work and very little money, among the Cuban citizens.

To continue, the process that Cubans go through for full education is really long and the education in Cuba is very strict. Everyone has to attend school until 9th grade. Then, those who wish to keep studying, can stay for high school and only those who exceed with their grades are allowed to go to college. The few lucky people who go to college have to study what the government needs, meaning that if Cuba needs doctors, they have to study medicine etc. After they complete their 5 years of college, they have to attend the military for 2 years and then do social service for 3 years. When they are done, they are able to get a job. I can connect this to their money because they have to go through all these years without earning money just to get a “decent” job.

Finally, you might be wondering what everything is written above has to do with my main topic, which is why do Cubans not leave their country if they are suffering. Their education, the government, and all their history has to do with why they are stuck in Cuba because of their money. They can’t leave Cuba because they don’t earn enough money. They just don’t have it! As BBC stated, Cubans can’t afford a flight, or a permit, or a new house somewhere else. They earn barely enough to buy their personal needs like food and toiletries and don’t have spare money. This is why almost every Cuban family just has 1 son. They can’t afford to raise more than 1! It is very sad to see them suffer because a lot of Cubans don’t deserve it, and just want to be happy somewhere else. For all these reasons, Cuban people don’t leave their country to seek a better life because they don’t have the money and the support from their government and other countries.