The oppression and corruption and subsequent misery caused by socialism in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua is what is driving the mass exodus of citizens leaving their home countries in search of freedom.
Arturo McFields Yescas explains in an Op-Ed at The Hill:
Repression and corruption fuel migration from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela
The dictatorships of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela are demanding fewer sanctions and more privileges. To that end, they have fabricated the false narrative that the sanctions imposed upon them are causing mass emigration. This idea has even gained popularity among intellectuals, leftwing presidents and even American politicians.
But it is a lie. The main causes of forced and desperate emigration from these countries are the repression, exclusion and illicit self-enrichment routinely practiced by the ruling elites in Managua, Havana and Caracas. Seven million Venezuelan migrants, among others, attest to this tragedy.
In Venezuela, citizens suffer criminal violence, state repression, and economic devastation. The homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants is 40, now the highest in Latin America. Out-of-control inflation is also forcing people to leave. Venezuela’s own central bank admits to an 86.7 percent inflation rate in the first four months of 2023, and the real figure is likely much higher.
In Nicaragua, the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega has confiscated the properties of more than 3,000 non-governmental organizations, including the Red Cross and Caritas. Legal certainty does not exist there, and the right to own private property is dying. Ortega released and exiled 222 political prisoners in February 2023. Between February and June, he is expected to detain 100 addition people arbitrarily; by the end of 2023, he could easily triple the number.
According to the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, 72 percent of Cubans live in extreme poverty — that is, on $1.90 per day or less. This is the result of 64 years of dictatorship and corruption.
Despite Cuba’s reputation for training doctors, it is not easy for Cubans to find medical specialists. All or nearly all of them have left. The Castro-Canel dictatorship sends its best doctors and specialists around the world as a form of soft-power diplomacy. For Cubans back home, it’s every man for himself.
According to the organization Prisoners Defenders, as of February 2023, 1,066 political prisoners were registered in Cuba. Civic protest is a risk, and criticism of the dictatorship is a crime.
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