Recent poll reveals 58% of Cubans want to leave the island, another 25% are considering that option

From our Bureau of Rats on Sinking Ships with some assistance from our Bureau of Questionable Polling

How is it possible to conduct polls in a totalitarian dictatorship where speech is tightly controlled? Can a pollster assume that no one will be afraid to speak freely and all replies to their questions will be honest?

Honestly, this latest poll taken in Cuba should not be taken seriously. Notice that only a relatively small number of the Cubans polled said they wanted to leave the island because of repression. Notice also that 44% of those polled had a university education. This percentage is way too high for the poll to represent the opinions of a true cross-section of the population. Moreover, to be allowed to enroll in any university, Cubans have to prove they are good communist revolutionaries, which means that these folk are either die-hard Castronoids or — as is more likely — very good liars and pretenders.

The poll’s results can be seen as a sign of the desperation that is gripping Cubans at the moment, and the acknowledgement by many that “there is no future in the country.” But this raises more questions, such as “why didn’t 99.9 % of those polled admit this openly” or “why didn’t 99.9% say that they were desperate to leave?” or “why didn’t the poll ask how many wanted immediate regime change?”

Loosely translated from Periodico Cubano

The economic crisis and lack of food are the two main factors argued by 57.5% of Cubans who want to leave the country, according to a survey carried out by the Cubadata project, which included a sample in all the provinces and the spatial municipality of Isle of Pines.

Of the 1,776 people who were surveyed between March 23 and April 8, 2023, only 17.2% are not considering leaving Cuba, while 25.3% are still undecided about doing so.

The Cubadata report shows that 77.4% of those surveyed were between 22 and 55 years of age, and 44% had studied at the university. In addition, 45% remained linked to a state work center.

Another of the revelations of the study is that 81% of those surveyed answered affirmatively to the question of whether they knew someone who had left Cuba in the last 12 months. On this issue, 86.9% said they supported such an action, since the situation in Cuba is critical and there is only one life, so it is legitimate for human beings to try to flee to a better place.

In this sense, 926 Cubans answered that the reason they emigrate has to do with the deep economic crisis. For its part, the food shortage was raised 698 times and another 658 said that “there is no future in the country.” Other reasons were also highlighted, such as the “lack of medicines and/or health services” (547), the “lack of job opportunities” (444), the “lack of freedoms” (418), “political persecution” (168 ), and “insecurity and violence” (117).

Continue reading HERE in Spanish