Apollo71 wrote:
My n=1 experience with Cuba - my wife and I got married in Cuba 12 years ago. One of the guys in our wedding party had a co-worker who was from the area of our resort. We ended up connecting with her cousin who was in his early 20s and gave us a tour of the local city. He was pretty matter of fact about the way of life in Cuba, particularly the government and their treatment of "subversives". He did say that from time to time people in his neighbourhood that were known to speak out against the government would simply disappear. He did also praise the good things about the country - free education and university, free healthcare, free milk for kids.
He was personally pissed off at the government as they wouldn't give him permission to leave and visit his cousin in Canada as they thought he wouldn't come back. When we asked him whether he would actually return, he said "probably not".
I've heard all that, but Cubans I've known have been quite critical of their government in my many conversations over the past 20 yrs, albeit they're certainly advised not to protest on the streets. The general jist has always been that Castro and the revolution was a good thing for the island, but its time to modernize and change with the times. People want a more open country but will never give up their education or healthcare systems or allow American interests again to control the political/financial systems. They only have to look at Puerto Rico and see how well that is working out for them. The Cuban ideal for the future to the average citizen would be a social democracy along the lines of the Scandinavian model. I suspect sometime in the future that is the path they will eventually try to follow.