Cuba

Frank Arriaga

            As I walked down the beautiful beach in Varadero, it was easy to momentarily get lost in its out of season emptiness… a peaceful state interrupted only by a few locals and the occasional pelican. This Caribbean gem, sheltered but not immune to American influence, offers an exceptional escape for those seeking to vacation or indulge in luxury for a fraction of it’s Caribbean counterparts’ cost; this paradise unfortunately comes at the ultimate price, a parasitic government that threatens to starve its host and a society which has become complacent to the atrocities done in the name of second-hand, so called Marxist ideology. 

           

                Despite the many problems that plague the country today, it cannot be denied that the Castro regime has indeed met Cuban citizens’ basic needs. Potable water, food rations, health care, a college education and shelter are all provided to the population… A true luxury to rural and low income communities all over south America and the world. It is almost ironic that some Cubans are dying to leave their country, while people are actually starving to death nearly everywhere else; the US included. This is not to say that countless people haven’t starved or died to secure their freedom and inalienable rights, but it does shine light on the difference between a resistance and an exit strategy.

            When I think back on our experience, I take a deep breath and go back to that beautiful beach. I find comfort in the looping shoreline’s eternity because I can leave, but if I were Cuban I would drown in it’s isolation.