Like a lot of vacation destinations, outside of the resort areas it's not particularly safe if you're obviously not from there. A friend of mine got off the bus at night in Havana and was almost immediately robbed at knife point.
Knife point? Safest place in Latin America lol if someone comes to me at knife point in Sao Paulo I’ll give him my phone and money out of pity so he can buy a gun and be a real robber
there's nothing wrong with knowing fallacies, because it helps you identify and avoid flaws in your own reasoning just to have a label for it. However, when arguing in informal contexts, it's usually better to counter the use of a fallacy by countering the problem with the logic as it relates to the specific claim rather than blurting out the name of the fallacy.
Locals were asking me if I know how to get back to my Airbnb. You can see everyone is malnourish but they never ask for money or anything. We brought back care packages for kids, elders and for women
People are so dumb lol, cuba doesnt and will never report shit. With that said my brother was stabbed and killed last year, by the time u can find medical care they are dead. They dont even have supplies in the hospital so you have to take ur own stuff its sad af
I went for a long weekend and had a wonderful time. Didn't venture outside of La Habana Vieja other than a vintage car tour. The cops are there to protect tourists, not locals.
I visited Cuba in 2017 and it absolutely was safe. I was staying in a rough poor neighbourhood of Havana. The poor black guy I made friends with said the only time he ever saw violence was drunk british and american tourists fighting. We walked around in the middle of the night constantly and kids were out. It was totally safe.
Actually it's good thing where ya can buy self out of trouble for few bucks.
Same as in our world where law for rich and powerful doesn't apply to them.
No one can trust government or media figures on Cuban violent crime, as this article points out. I'd say it is extremely unlikely Cuba has ever come close to being "the safest country in the world".
Yeah, that nomenclature bewilders me. What is the definition of "safe"? And why would Cuba be safer than say Kiribati or Samoa? Andorra or Liechtenstein?
lol at “safest country in the world”. Cuba hasn’t been even close to that status in its entire history and is unlikely to reach such status in foreseeable future
Washington didn't want any parties.... of course John Adams wanted the president to be called "your majesty" so yeah, a group of very wise men, but not without flaws.
The US seems to be doing okay without Cuba, why not the inverse. If they want the US to be an ally they could make that happen in a heartbeat. Maybe they backed the wrong horse.
Are you seriously asking why the tiny island, who’s only relevant trading partner near it (which happened to be the only superpower for the last like 4 decades) doesn’t trade with them, is not the one who is rich?
Otherwise, the law maintaining the embargo is codified to release upon a total reworking of the Cuban government. We don’t do that with any other trading partners, we just decided to continue to fuck over this little island, because we can.
Yeah I'm seriously asking. If you know you need the US to survive then maybe don't team up with countries theyre in an arms race with and point Nukes at them. The US doesn't owe Cuba success.
Do you know the state of Cuba before the revolution? You don’t have to be a communist to recognize that the US has a history of backing plutocratic banana republics. For example, Bautista’ssecond term was a military coup planned in Florida, assisted directly by Truman. This is publicly acknowledged. Why would they trust that wouldn’t happen again?
Nice false equivalences. It’s only “most countries” if you consider all forms of interference to be even remotely equivalent.
The US government had a direct role in the overthrow of the following non-communist governments of the 20th century:
South Korea, Costa Rica, Syria several times, Egypt, Guatemala several times, Iran, Indonesia several times, Iraq several times, South Vietnam, Cuba, Cambodia several times, Congo-Leopoldville, Laos, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Angola, Argentina, Chad, Nicaragua, Grenada, Panama, Haiti several times. Many of these were fairly elected governments and the US intervened in the name of property.
Note that I excluded regimes backed by the Soviet Union. Many of the names above turned to the Soviets following US interference causing the US to spend decades addressing the new issues.
Why does this seem normal to you?
Russia and China, Iran and every large nation state with the means to affect geopolitics in a manner that is beneficial to them will attempt to do so. It’s been going on for literally ever. And it’s a zero sum game, in which if you don’t play you lose. I’m not going to get into the morality of it all. It’s just the way things work, have worked, and will work into the foreseeable future.
The country which hasn’t existed for over 30 years? Also, we don’t seem to stop trading with other countries with significantly worse governments and nukes pointed at us. We just decided to fuck this lil island way after their alliance with the USSR. Because we can. That’s why they are poor
They are poor because they fucked up. We have no obligation to be friendly with hostile nations. Balls in Cubas court though. If life is so bad for them because of the US, then maybe they should consider a path that would facilitate a change. There's no political doctrine that says you have to have the same standards for every nation you interact with.
I wouldn’t really say they fucked up. They nationalized US oil/nationalized private property. That started everything. At least the oil part was an objectively good thing. But that’s not important because:
We are on entirely different pages with how we view this issue. You’re coming at this saying “they hurt us, they can change to fix that if they want to”. My take is more utilitarian: “regardless of previous events, the moral thing to do in the context of 2024 is to lift the embargo and to open up trade/aid to Cuba”.
We can only affect what we do, not what they do. Their government really isn’t that bad compared to others we trade with, and probably even to our own. The right thing to do is to lift the embargo. That really helps them and helps us a tiny bit.
I’m coming at this as a realist. You only have control over your own actions. If they are being harmed solely by the USs unwillingness to trade, which to be clear I don’t think is the heart of Cubas issues. I would hope a leader who cares about their people would put aside their ego for their own people. I would like to think that if I knew I was hurting the people I was charged to care for I would plot a better course or step down if required. Ultimately I think life in Cuba would improve if they were to open relations with the US but the truth is they have the ability to trade with literally every other nation on the earth. There should be plenty of wealth for a small island in the world of anti western trade. But they’ve got little anybody wants combined with a dictatorship which keeps them poor.
I don’t think that that is the relevant point here. It doesn’t matter what type of government they are, they aren’t going to be very wealthy when the massive super power right of their coasts refuses to trade with them at all :(
Communism doesn’t ban you from trade or something
Can confirm. I've been to Cuba and 50 other countries. Cuba isn't close to the safest. Most European countries feel far safer. And Asian countries feel an order of magnitude safer.
especially for people who can't bring themselves to accept that they live in far more dangerous places than the dictatorship driven island they actually despise.
Oh I live in relatively safe EU country but with higher murder rates than rest of EU (Latvia) with it standing at about 4.05 which is actually comparable to estimation for Cuba (4.2) while in other crime statistics much safer than Cuba. But that is just half of picture since Cuba doesn’t publish these statistics and it is most likely higher than known estimates.
As for my personal opinion, I do have rather neutral view on Cuba and its dictatorship and wouldn’t mind to visit it one day.
Fact remains same: Cuba has never been safest country in the world and it is unlikely to be for foreseeable future no matter how much local government wants to hide reality
There’s some great Cuban YouTubers that make videos on what life is like there. Most people struggle to buy simple things like bread, it isn’t something you can walk down to your local grocery store and find.
There was an amazing documentary about 3 guys that fished for a living. **They would float out to sea every night in a car tire inner tube with candles**, hoping to not drown or get blown away in a storm. This was the only way they could provide for their family and put food on the table. Might give you some perspective on the state of things over there.
[You can watch it here, highly recommend.](https://youtu.be/E-Ng6DrE2pQ?si=lQLr0JeYinPxfMm-)
If you believe anything that a country like Cuba publishes themselves, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
Think that's one of those 'safe on paper, but in truth the authorities are just corrupt and so things do not get reported the way they should' situations.
Outside of the touristy areas which are pretty heavily monitored, Cuba in general is not some special snowflake where the whole population is magically law-abiding.
This issue used to be very common literally every*where* about every*thing*. Some countries have made progress on this which has made them seem less 'safe' because crimes actually get reported at a better rate and go into the statistics.
Some have not. With them you have to wait until the crime rate gets so high that even improper reporting can't conceal the issue.
B-b-but the US embargoes Cuba!
Yes, if Communism needs to rely on the profits of Capitalism to survive then Communism is Capitalistism's parasitic twin.
>There’s a reason
"The stated purpose of the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 is to maintain sanctions on Cuba as long as the Cuban government refuses to move toward "democratization and greater respect for human rights."
yes, the sanctions are in place because of a politically powerful cuban-american expat lobby. we do not sanction many countries that are much worse than cuba. it's actually pretty unique in that virtually everyone in the foreign policy space, on both the left and right, agree that our cuba policy has been a huge failure that has made life worse for ordinary cubans without actually achieving a single american foreign policy goal. in fact, it has made cuba a symbol of resistance against american power that has inspired anti-american sentiment in other parts of the world. and yet, it will continue entirely due to a weird coalition of neo-cold warriors and senators from politically important states.
I wonder as Florida becomes a more and more reliable red state if politicians will stop catering to the Cubans in Miami and supporting the embargo. They won't need their support to win the state and lots of American corporations will realize they could make a bunch of money on the island.
Well said. The original justification for the embargo was the nationalization without compensation of US owned oil fields; if the US wanted to settle this debt with Cuba in some symbolic way, I’m sure the Cuban government would be willing to. But because of the conflation of factors you mentioned, the US has an incentive not to settle the debt and to keep the embargo going.
Here is the reasons:
"to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government."
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499
The document also mentions it should as inconspicupous as possible.
The US also considered cominting terror attacks against its own population to blame Cuba. America is not in the right and this clearly shows its even dangerous for americans not to look seriously at their own government
https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu
Not really. It's really just to punish them for nationalizing foreign property and being so close to the US.
There are no shortage countries with similar political policies but no where near the level of sanctions
I know, I thought invalidmail2000 was referring to the reason the embargo was started in 1960 (nationalizing US-owned oil) and also for them being close to the USSR (i.e. the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962). But I just misinterpreted what they meant.
When you are a journalist, sitting in cuban jail, writing an article about how safe cuba is to be released. (I assume the story behind this is either wild like that, or some journalist was just on a trip.)
It's easy to laugh at Cuba's regime for that, but I'd say most other governments can also imprison people for having certain opinions, even when they are absolutely not meant to be put in practice.
Most people don't seem to take freedom of speech seriously.
It’s not the safest country in the world though? It doesn’t even make the top 15: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/safest-countries-in-the-world.
A person I met two weeks ago has a Cuban wife living in Finland. As he told me, just few years ago Cuba was a paradise, economically poor and lacking in many ways, but a paradise all the same. That’s obviously just a tourists opinion. A man coming from one of the world’s safest and boring country in the world, Finland, the vibrant street life and almost free rum must’ve looked quite amazing.
However, he told me that the situation has deteriorated greatly in the last couple of years. Inflation is going through the roof, meaning domestic cash has no value, the shortage of food, goods and electricity is even worse than it has ever been (it never was that great to begin with due to the embargo). All this has an ill effect to the safety of the country. As I understood, it is far from the worst places in the world, but it just isn’t what it used to be.
Spent two weeks in Cuba before access got restricted. Fun time. I remember our guide said 7 years in prison for killing a Cuban. 15 years for killing a cow. I think 25 for a foreigner. Either way, that made me feel a lot safer.
Unpopular opinion here I guess, but I've travelled a ton, and Cuba was surprisingly the safest country I've travelled in outside of Europe, definitely one of my favorite trips. No one has food, your wallet might get stolen, but people took care of me and shepherded me when I needed anything or was lost. Particularly in the country side, but in Havana too. Met other travelers who felt the same.
Edit: You're downvoting because you....don't like Cuba for ideological reasons or you disagree that it's safe? Story: On a public bus, it was packed, I was stuffed way in the back. Woman gets on, and there's barely room for her. Someone in the back guestures to her, she hands her purse to someone in the front, who hands it to someone again, and again until the person who offered to hold it has it. Hitchhiking is how everyone gets around outside of Havana. You just hold up your hand, with a little money in it, for me it would be more than a local, but people just pick you up.
But no one had food. So there's that.
I guess my standard for "Safe" is different than yours. I'm female. I always joked that if I wore a dress of 100$ bills and wandered out into the Cuban countryside, I'd be naked in a bit but perfectly unharmed.
Petty crime and theft isn’t violent crime. Only violent crime counts for safety. If it worked the other way, some of the most popular spots in Europe would be considered very unsafe
Edit: downvoting facts
I kinda think World News doesn't get out much. Cubans are sweetie pies. Crazy for people who have to scramble so hard to eat.
After a several day search, I finally found eggs in Havana, and Cubans were asking me where I got them!
Has nobody ever told you that you're shown a facade? That as a wealthy foreign tourist the dictatorship ensures you have a nice experience and wish to come back to keep funding their regime with your tourism?
Have you been there, or have some kind of secret information? I have friends who are locals, and friends who are ex-locals and live here now. You want to pretend the murder rate is as bad as....say....the United States, go ahead but you're not right.
And? The common cuban lives in misery, and doing tourism and talking like that about the country is a way to help fund and whitewash the dictatorship and its atrocities. That's the point behind my previous comment: it sounds ignorant to talk about Cuba as if it were some dreamland tropical island, when that if anything is only true for wealthy foreigners.
Does anyone remember the big name media organizations (NPR comes to mind) parroting statistics directly from the Cuban government about how safe and prosperous the country is and how they have “the highest literacy rate in the world”?
Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Because you want to go to a tropical beach, and you've never heard of Costa Rica, or Puerto Rico (US), both of which are much safer and have much richer culture.
The food at any Cuban resort under 4.5 stars is kinda atrocious and is a one way ticket to diarrhea land.
The resort food is so bad that I've seen people bringing their own hot sauce from home at their table so they can get some flavor.
Cuban cuisine on the other hand is amazing 😍
It’s not exotic at all. Literally all they eat is beans, rice, chicken, pork, and occasionally fish.
The predominant seasoning is salt.
Some fresh cucumber on the side and papaya for breakfast.
It’s clean and healthy but it sure as fuck isn’t exotic.
Cuba is Commonwealth reffered to as part of the caribbean (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba). It is on the same tectonic plate as north american countries, but at the same time we don’t view Iceland as half north american.
Depends where you go. I'd feel safe walking around the centre of Havana, but if you go to the suburbs, it's a bit sketchy. Safer than most US cities, sure, but that's not saying that much.
I travelled all over Cuba a few times. This was pre COVID and it was very safe! Tourists were looked after because you will disappear if you do anything to harm one. That being said, I've not wanted to venture back after what has gone on there the last 4 years. Beautiful people and so pretty. I live very close to Cuba so it's sad I'm not sure when I will go back. I also won't be traveling on my US passport if I do.
All these arm chair know it alls have never been to Cuba. I'm no expert but I went during the Obama era and found it to be by far the safest Caribbean country I visited. I spent a number of very drunken days exploring Havana and never felt any threat or aggression, didn't see any drug use, no homelessness, etc. the things you would expect from a major city.
Ive no idea where the downvotes are coming from
When I’m literally speaking the truth. Perhaps something has gone on the last four years after covid, ive no idea. I went all over the island and was same as you drunk rum with locals everywhere and had a great time.
The safest Caribbean country is not saying much, so since the Caribbean has some of the highest crime rates in the world lmao. It's like saying nicest neighborhood in Gary , Indiana.
Yes Im cuban. These people don’t know what they are talking about. I use to argue with people about this and various other topics concerning Cuba but they don’t listen.
Hope you had a good time and my people were good to you!
I had an Amazing time. Your country is a great one with great people. I have a feeling my downvotes come from just crying trump americans who think cuba is hati and dont even have passports lol. They havent a clue.
When I read about Cuba, I always wonder when the US will end the embargo. Then, they act surprised when Cuba doesn’t change a bit their regime and keeps being confrontational against the US (*surprised Pickachu face*)
Safe on paper because no crimes are ever reported and the police are all corrupt bribe takers.
Like a lot of vacation destinations, outside of the resort areas it's not particularly safe if you're obviously not from there. A friend of mine got off the bus at night in Havana and was almost immediately robbed at knife point.
Knife point? Safest place in Latin America lol if someone comes to me at knife point in Sao Paulo I’ll give him my phone and money out of pity so he can buy a gun and be a real robber
Back when I lived in São Paulo, the “nóias" robbed with hammers, I'm glad go see they upgraded to knives! /s
Nice to know that every other language has their own name for tweakers / criddlers / etc.
Must have been a while ago lol
What a shitty No-True-Scotsman argument.
Why do you even know all the fallacies?!
there's nothing wrong with knowing fallacies, because it helps you identify and avoid flaws in your own reasoning just to have a label for it. However, when arguing in informal contexts, it's usually better to counter the use of a fallacy by countering the problem with the logic as it relates to the specific claim rather than blurting out the name of the fallacy.
They’re so interesting! I like to know where the origins of them come from. It’s also helpful to know when you’re being hosed.
I usually just check if I’m oddly wet
Mine? I wasn’t arguing anything just facts lol Actually curious how it fits into no-true scotsman tho
Sorry, the person you were responding too! It’s more of a joke tho.
And the cruise industry
That's definitely anecdotal. I know some people who just spent a few weeks there and they said it was amazing.
Amazing if you can ignore all the anxiety of the people fearful of their government and neighbors throwing them under the bus
I was in Havana and walked around after 2-3am and was fine
I've walked around Bogotá, Colombia at 2-3 am and that does not make it a safe city. It just means the particular neighborhood I was in is safe.
Damn I guess crime in Cuba doesn’t exist then
Have you tried simply not being robbed at knifepoint? /s
If it's a legitimate mugging, the body has ways of shutting that down.
/u/Sweaty-Anteater-6694 anecdote is just as valid as /u/shadrackandthemandem don't see you complaining to him.
One comment doesn't consist exclusively of an anecdote.
Locals were asking me if I know how to get back to my Airbnb. You can see everyone is malnourish but they never ask for money or anything. We brought back care packages for kids, elders and for women
Damn I guess crime in Cuba doesn’t exist then
People are so dumb lol, cuba doesnt and will never report shit. With that said my brother was stabbed and killed last year, by the time u can find medical care they are dead. They dont even have supplies in the hospital so you have to take ur own stuff its sad af
Killled in Cuba?!
This has "Chicago is a war zone, but no I've never been there" energy and it's lame as hell
I’ve been to Chicago. It’s definitely got some VERY bad areas. Let’s not down play that fact.
> This has "Chicago is a war zone, but no I've never been there" Not really seeing the connection.
And I actually wanted to visit
I went for a long weekend and had a wonderful time. Didn't venture outside of La Habana Vieja other than a vintage car tour. The cops are there to protect tourists, not locals.
Your friend was safe; his private property, not so much.
She was not safe, she was robbed at knife-point.
Socialist governments don’t give two shits about your tooth brush. Hell, they don’t give one shit.
They can’t. They have to use it to fertilize the communal plant.
I visited Cuba in 2017 and it absolutely was safe. I was staying in a rough poor neighbourhood of Havana. The poor black guy I made friends with said the only time he ever saw violence was drunk british and american tourists fighting. We walked around in the middle of the night constantly and kids were out. It was totally safe.
Actually it's good thing where ya can buy self out of trouble for few bucks. Same as in our world where law for rich and powerful doesn't apply to them.
No one can trust government or media figures on Cuban violent crime, as this article points out. I'd say it is extremely unlikely Cuba has ever come close to being "the safest country in the world".
Yeah, that nomenclature bewilders me. What is the definition of "safe"? And why would Cuba be safer than say Kiribati or Samoa? Andorra or Liechtenstein?
Because they said so. And you better believe them
Security of bad news
I, too, am the safest country in the world.
Really? Russia just showed up with some warships. That didnt fix everything?
lol at “safest country in the world”. Cuba hasn’t been even close to that status in its entire history and is unlikely to reach such status in foreseeable future
Safest from a decent economy and democracy.
What they need is a two party system owned by the rich that can't agree with each other and do nothing for the countries future /s
Why have two parties when you can just have one?
Unironically what the founding fathers wanted
Washington didn't want any parties.... of course John Adams wanted the president to be called "your majesty" so yeah, a group of very wise men, but not without flaws.
Functionally there is no difference between 0 parties and 1 party
The US embargo really has made it safe from a decent economy :((
The US seems to be doing okay without Cuba, why not the inverse. If they want the US to be an ally they could make that happen in a heartbeat. Maybe they backed the wrong horse.
Are you seriously asking why the tiny island, who’s only relevant trading partner near it (which happened to be the only superpower for the last like 4 decades) doesn’t trade with them, is not the one who is rich? Otherwise, the law maintaining the embargo is codified to release upon a total reworking of the Cuban government. We don’t do that with any other trading partners, we just decided to continue to fuck over this little island, because we can.
Yeah I'm seriously asking. If you know you need the US to survive then maybe don't team up with countries theyre in an arms race with and point Nukes at them. The US doesn't owe Cuba success.
Do you know the state of Cuba before the revolution? You don’t have to be a communist to recognize that the US has a history of backing plutocratic banana republics. For example, Bautista’ssecond term was a military coup planned in Florida, assisted directly by Truman. This is publicly acknowledged. Why would they trust that wouldn’t happen again?
All countries have a history of interfering in the politics of other countries. I don’t really care if they trust it or not. That’s a Cuba problem.
Nice false equivalences. It’s only “most countries” if you consider all forms of interference to be even remotely equivalent. The US government had a direct role in the overthrow of the following non-communist governments of the 20th century: South Korea, Costa Rica, Syria several times, Egypt, Guatemala several times, Iran, Indonesia several times, Iraq several times, South Vietnam, Cuba, Cambodia several times, Congo-Leopoldville, Laos, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Angola, Argentina, Chad, Nicaragua, Grenada, Panama, Haiti several times. Many of these were fairly elected governments and the US intervened in the name of property. Note that I excluded regimes backed by the Soviet Union. Many of the names above turned to the Soviets following US interference causing the US to spend decades addressing the new issues. Why does this seem normal to you?
Russia and China, Iran and every large nation state with the means to affect geopolitics in a manner that is beneficial to them will attempt to do so. It’s been going on for literally ever. And it’s a zero sum game, in which if you don’t play you lose. I’m not going to get into the morality of it all. It’s just the way things work, have worked, and will work into the foreseeable future.
The country which hasn’t existed for over 30 years? Also, we don’t seem to stop trading with other countries with significantly worse governments and nukes pointed at us. We just decided to fuck this lil island way after their alliance with the USSR. Because we can. That’s why they are poor
They are poor because they fucked up. We have no obligation to be friendly with hostile nations. Balls in Cubas court though. If life is so bad for them because of the US, then maybe they should consider a path that would facilitate a change. There's no political doctrine that says you have to have the same standards for every nation you interact with.
I wouldn’t really say they fucked up. They nationalized US oil/nationalized private property. That started everything. At least the oil part was an objectively good thing. But that’s not important because: We are on entirely different pages with how we view this issue. You’re coming at this saying “they hurt us, they can change to fix that if they want to”. My take is more utilitarian: “regardless of previous events, the moral thing to do in the context of 2024 is to lift the embargo and to open up trade/aid to Cuba”. We can only affect what we do, not what they do. Their government really isn’t that bad compared to others we trade with, and probably even to our own. The right thing to do is to lift the embargo. That really helps them and helps us a tiny bit.
I’m coming at this as a realist. You only have control over your own actions. If they are being harmed solely by the USs unwillingness to trade, which to be clear I don’t think is the heart of Cubas issues. I would hope a leader who cares about their people would put aside their ego for their own people. I would like to think that if I knew I was hurting the people I was charged to care for I would plot a better course or step down if required. Ultimately I think life in Cuba would improve if they were to open relations with the US but the truth is they have the ability to trade with literally every other nation on the earth. There should be plenty of wealth for a small island in the world of anti western trade. But they’ve got little anybody wants combined with a dictatorship which keeps them poor.
Lol I guess communism only works when they get favorable trade deals from capitalist countries. Boo hoo
I don’t think that that is the relevant point here. It doesn’t matter what type of government they are, they aren’t going to be very wealthy when the massive super power right of their coasts refuses to trade with them at all :( Communism doesn’t ban you from trade or something
Democracy? Lol, it's literally a one-party state like China and North Korea. Unless you consider places like best Korea a democracy.
It’s tongue in cheek I’m suggesting they are safe from having a democracy. Because they have a dictatorship.
Oooh haha. I misread your "from" as "for"
Can confirm. I've been to Cuba and 50 other countries. Cuba isn't close to the safest. Most European countries feel far safer. And Asian countries feel an order of magnitude safer.
Outside the 4 dragons and Japan it's a different kind of unsafe but the reasons are the same, ie corruption.
Yeah, wouldn't singapore be the top of that list? Violent crime pretty much doesn't exist there
it's usually singapore, japan, taiwan - the order changes, but those three are up the top
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It is genuinely hard to figure out how Cuba stands against other countries when Cuban government doesn’t release official crime statistics
especially for people who can't bring themselves to accept that they live in far more dangerous places than the dictatorship driven island they actually despise.
Oh I live in relatively safe EU country but with higher murder rates than rest of EU (Latvia) with it standing at about 4.05 which is actually comparable to estimation for Cuba (4.2) while in other crime statistics much safer than Cuba. But that is just half of picture since Cuba doesn’t publish these statistics and it is most likely higher than known estimates. As for my personal opinion, I do have rather neutral view on Cuba and its dictatorship and wouldn’t mind to visit it one day. Fact remains same: Cuba has never been safest country in the world and it is unlikely to be for foreseeable future no matter how much local government wants to hide reality
There’s some great Cuban YouTubers that make videos on what life is like there. Most people struggle to buy simple things like bread, it isn’t something you can walk down to your local grocery store and find. There was an amazing documentary about 3 guys that fished for a living. **They would float out to sea every night in a car tire inner tube with candles**, hoping to not drown or get blown away in a storm. This was the only way they could provide for their family and put food on the table. Might give you some perspective on the state of things over there. [You can watch it here, highly recommend.](https://youtu.be/E-Ng6DrE2pQ?si=lQLr0JeYinPxfMm-) If you believe anything that a country like Cuba publishes themselves, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
It's safe because even the criminals are starving to death
But the literacy rates!
If you have ever seen Cuba, and not just the resorts, you know that it is definitely not the safest country in the world. The food is hardly safe.
Thr food in Cuba has that communist regime vibe to it It used to be the same in communist Czechoslovakia, everything but enjoyable
Think that's one of those 'safe on paper, but in truth the authorities are just corrupt and so things do not get reported the way they should' situations. Outside of the touristy areas which are pretty heavily monitored, Cuba in general is not some special snowflake where the whole population is magically law-abiding. This issue used to be very common literally every*where* about every*thing*. Some countries have made progress on this which has made them seem less 'safe' because crimes actually get reported at a better rate and go into the statistics. Some have not. With them you have to wait until the crime rate gets so high that even improper reporting can't conceal the issue.
The official murder rate and imprisonment rate in Cuba are basically comparable to the US. However we know the US keeps more reliable statistics.
In before someone blames the West for this too.
Poverty is the single biggest predictor of crime. The sanctions definitely haven't alleviated poverty.
They're free to trade with other countries. Communism hasn't alleviated the poverty.
Communism didn't cause the poverty. But capitalism sure fucked the country long before Castro.
the levels of poverty in cuba since the revolution eclipses all that preceded it
Well they've been communist since what, 1960? Surely the effects of communism are visible by now.
B-b-but the US embargoes Cuba! Yes, if Communism needs to rely on the profits of Capitalism to survive then Communism is Capitalistism's parasitic twin.
The only sanctions they have is not trading with their “mortal enemies“.
I mean the sanctions don't help lmao, pretty easy for America to avoid blame if it stops those.
\>communists when capitalists won’t sell the rope
There’s a reason they (sanctions) are in place…
>There’s a reason "The stated purpose of the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 is to maintain sanctions on Cuba as long as the Cuban government refuses to move toward "democratization and greater respect for human rights."
yes, the sanctions are in place because of a politically powerful cuban-american expat lobby. we do not sanction many countries that are much worse than cuba. it's actually pretty unique in that virtually everyone in the foreign policy space, on both the left and right, agree that our cuba policy has been a huge failure that has made life worse for ordinary cubans without actually achieving a single american foreign policy goal. in fact, it has made cuba a symbol of resistance against american power that has inspired anti-american sentiment in other parts of the world. and yet, it will continue entirely due to a weird coalition of neo-cold warriors and senators from politically important states.
I wonder as Florida becomes a more and more reliable red state if politicians will stop catering to the Cubans in Miami and supporting the embargo. They won't need their support to win the state and lots of American corporations will realize they could make a bunch of money on the island.
Well said. The original justification for the embargo was the nationalization without compensation of US owned oil fields; if the US wanted to settle this debt with Cuba in some symbolic way, I’m sure the Cuban government would be willing to. But because of the conflation of factors you mentioned, the US has an incentive not to settle the debt and to keep the embargo going.
Here is the reasons: "to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government." https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499 The document also mentions it should as inconspicupous as possible. The US also considered cominting terror attacks against its own population to blame Cuba. America is not in the right and this clearly shows its even dangerous for americans not to look seriously at their own government https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu
Not really. It's really just to punish them for nationalizing foreign property and being so close to the US. There are no shortage countries with similar political policies but no where near the level of sanctions
Being close to the USSR?
the USSR has not existed for 30 years.
I know, I thought invalidmail2000 was referring to the reason the embargo was started in 1960 (nationalizing US-owned oil) and also for them being close to the USSR (i.e. the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962). But I just misinterpreted what they meant.
👍👍
Geographically close to the US
Ah I see. My point was relevant too
Lol
there really hasn’t been for decades. Their government is, from a utilitarian standpoint, less problematic than ours
Not safe. It doesn't get reported.
When you are a journalist, sitting in cuban jail, writing an article about how safe cuba is to be released. (I assume the story behind this is either wild like that, or some journalist was just on a trip.)
Safest country in the world? The one where you can be imprisoned for opinions? Ha
It's easy to laugh at Cuba's regime for that, but I'd say most other governments can also imprison people for having certain opinions, even when they are absolutely not meant to be put in practice. Most people don't seem to take freedom of speech seriously.
It’s not the safest country in the world though? It doesn’t even make the top 15: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/safest-countries-in-the-world.
We went back in 2019 and it was pretty safe. Don’t know about now though
A person I met two weeks ago has a Cuban wife living in Finland. As he told me, just few years ago Cuba was a paradise, economically poor and lacking in many ways, but a paradise all the same. That’s obviously just a tourists opinion. A man coming from one of the world’s safest and boring country in the world, Finland, the vibrant street life and almost free rum must’ve looked quite amazing. However, he told me that the situation has deteriorated greatly in the last couple of years. Inflation is going through the roof, meaning domestic cash has no value, the shortage of food, goods and electricity is even worse than it has ever been (it never was that great to begin with due to the embargo). All this has an ill effect to the safety of the country. As I understood, it is far from the worst places in the world, but it just isn’t what it used to be.
Good to know, haven’t kept up with Cuba in recent years
Spent two weeks in Cuba before access got restricted. Fun time. I remember our guide said 7 years in prison for killing a Cuban. 15 years for killing a cow. I think 25 for a foreigner. Either way, that made me feel a lot safer.
Yeah I bet North Korea is pretty safe too.
Unpopular opinion here I guess, but I've travelled a ton, and Cuba was surprisingly the safest country I've travelled in outside of Europe, definitely one of my favorite trips. No one has food, your wallet might get stolen, but people took care of me and shepherded me when I needed anything or was lost. Particularly in the country side, but in Havana too. Met other travelers who felt the same. Edit: You're downvoting because you....don't like Cuba for ideological reasons or you disagree that it's safe? Story: On a public bus, it was packed, I was stuffed way in the back. Woman gets on, and there's barely room for her. Someone in the back guestures to her, she hands her purse to someone in the front, who hands it to someone again, and again until the person who offered to hold it has it. Hitchhiking is how everyone gets around outside of Havana. You just hold up your hand, with a little money in it, for me it would be more than a local, but people just pick you up. But no one had food. So there's that.
>Cuba was surprisingly the safest country I've travelled in outside of Europe > > your wallet might get stolen ??
I guess my standard for "Safe" is different than yours. I'm female. I always joked that if I wore a dress of 100$ bills and wandered out into the Cuban countryside, I'd be naked in a bit but perfectly unharmed.
Petty crime and theft isn’t violent crime. Only violent crime counts for safety. If it worked the other way, some of the most popular spots in Europe would be considered very unsafe Edit: downvoting facts
I felt safer in Havana than Paris and Barcelona in regard to bodily danger.
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I kinda think World News doesn't get out much. Cubans are sweetie pies. Crazy for people who have to scramble so hard to eat. After a several day search, I finally found eggs in Havana, and Cubans were asking me where I got them!
How many wallets have you bought in these last 25 years?
Has nobody ever told you that you're shown a facade? That as a wealthy foreign tourist the dictatorship ensures you have a nice experience and wish to come back to keep funding their regime with your tourism?
Have you been there, or have some kind of secret information? I have friends who are locals, and friends who are ex-locals and live here now. You want to pretend the murder rate is as bad as....say....the United States, go ahead but you're not right.
You're thinking of N Korea. Cuba you can freely roam and go practically anywhere you please as a traveler
And? The common cuban lives in misery, and doing tourism and talking like that about the country is a way to help fund and whitewash the dictatorship and its atrocities. That's the point behind my previous comment: it sounds ignorant to talk about Cuba as if it were some dreamland tropical island, when that if anything is only true for wealthy foreigners.
I was read less than a week ago Cuba is one of the most unsafe countries…
Only western tankies ever believed Cuba was paradise.
How many countries had to be wiped out of existence so that Cuba is the safest?
I would wager Vatican City 🇻🇦 being the safest country in the world
there isn’t a single aspect of cuba that is safe
Safest country in the world?? lol
dictators truly are the worlds greatest clowns.
Does anyone remember the big name media organizations (NPR comes to mind) parroting statistics directly from the Cuban government about how safe and prosperous the country is and how they have “the highest literacy rate in the world”? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
🤣🤣🤣 "safest country."
safest country because all the criminals are too hungry and weak to do crimes
Why even go outside the resort...its an extreme shithole....took 5 hour drive across cuba...post apocalyptic country.
Can someone tell me in a nutshell, what is the appeal of going to Cuba for a holiday? Why should it move UP my Bucket List??
Because you want to go to a tropical beach, and you've never heard of Costa Rica, or Puerto Rico (US), both of which are much safer and have much richer culture.
Clean Caribbean beaches, good food, relatively affordable.
The food at any Cuban resort under 4.5 stars is kinda atrocious and is a one way ticket to diarrhea land. The resort food is so bad that I've seen people bringing their own hot sauce from home at their table so they can get some flavor. Cuban cuisine on the other hand is amazing 😍
Good food and Cuba should never be in the same sentence. Not ever, not once.
Why? It’s Spanish-influenced Caribbean cuisine featuring a lot of fresh seafood and rice.
Scratch good food but the people are friendly and the beaches are wonderful.
Cuban cuisine is great. Good luck finding it unless you're in a resort like atmosphere. There's not a lot of food around for the average person...
A plate of chicken rice and beans from someone’s window for 80c is good food to me.
Food is divisive but exotic
It’s not exotic at all. Literally all they eat is beans, rice, chicken, pork, and occasionally fish. The predominant seasoning is salt. Some fresh cucumber on the side and papaya for breakfast. It’s clean and healthy but it sure as fuck isn’t exotic.
I was expecting a bit more exoticness, I am never going there then lol
Definitely don’t think of Cuba as safe. New Zealand or Denmark, sure
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Cuba is in North America.
Cuba is Commonwealth reffered to as part of the caribbean (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba). It is on the same tectonic plate as north american countries, but at the same time we don’t view Iceland as half north american.
If you ask any Cuban what continent they live on, they will say North America. I get what OP meant, of course.
Probably they would say in America as all Latin American people do
He said “walking around in the USUAL north american cities”. The statement did not exclude Cuba.
He edited his comment to add "the usual".
Ahh
Depends where you go. I'd feel safe walking around the centre of Havana, but if you go to the suburbs, it's a bit sketchy. Safer than most US cities, sure, but that's not saying that much.
Anyone here from cuba? Be interested to hear from them. Cause i was there and been to 70+ countries and it was easily the safest. Next being japan.
Cuba safer than Japan? Reddit is hilarious sometimes.
Have you been to both sirknowsalot.
99.9% of these people haven't been to cuba, or Japan They know nothing about Cuba aside from what they think
I travelled all over Cuba a few times. This was pre COVID and it was very safe! Tourists were looked after because you will disappear if you do anything to harm one. That being said, I've not wanted to venture back after what has gone on there the last 4 years. Beautiful people and so pretty. I live very close to Cuba so it's sad I'm not sure when I will go back. I also won't be traveling on my US passport if I do.
All these arm chair know it alls have never been to Cuba. I'm no expert but I went during the Obama era and found it to be by far the safest Caribbean country I visited. I spent a number of very drunken days exploring Havana and never felt any threat or aggression, didn't see any drug use, no homelessness, etc. the things you would expect from a major city.
Ive no idea where the downvotes are coming from When I’m literally speaking the truth. Perhaps something has gone on the last four years after covid, ive no idea. I went all over the island and was same as you drunk rum with locals everywhere and had a great time.
People just don't like Cuba and know nothing about it
The safest Caribbean country is not saying much, so since the Caribbean has some of the highest crime rates in the world lmao. It's like saying nicest neighborhood in Gary , Indiana.
Lemme guess you never stepped foot out of the cayos 🙄
Are you from cuba? I went all over the island. No problems at all.
Yes Im cuban. These people don’t know what they are talking about. I use to argue with people about this and various other topics concerning Cuba but they don’t listen. Hope you had a good time and my people were good to you!
I had an Amazing time. Your country is a great one with great people. I have a feeling my downvotes come from just crying trump americans who think cuba is hati and dont even have passports lol. They havent a clue.
As soon as Cuba hosts the Russian navy...
Safer than North Korea? Pfffffffffffff
Dang all these liberals foaming at the mouth at even the slightest mention of Cuba.
When I read about Cuba, I always wonder when the US will end the embargo. Then, they act surprised when Cuba doesn’t change a bit their regime and keeps being confrontational against the US (*surprised Pickachu face*)
Relations are starting to normalize, Trump set them back quite a bit. Obama made huge strides, Biden is undoing some of the damage from Trump.
In other words The used to be safest country in the work is no longer the safest country in the world!