A Cuban expatriate identified as Ariel Cabrera reacted this Friday to the statements made by the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel regarding the migration of young professionals, asserting that education in Cuba is not free, but rather paid for with low salaries and mandatory contributions from the population.
Cabrera's reaction circulates in a video posted on Facebook, where he comments on a segment of the Cuban leader's speech the previous day during the event marking the 65th anniversary of the proclamation of the socialist nature of the Cuban revolution.
In his speech, Díaz-Canel described the exodus of professionals as a very painful wound and accused capitalism of purchasing the "ability and talent" of young people "educated for free" in Cuban schools and universities.
Cabrera responded by questioning that statement and rejected the notion that Cuban education can be considered free.
“What free education are you talking about when everything is paid for through taxes?” he stated, while arguing that state salaries are insufficient and that the system extracts a large portion of the value of citizens' work.
"One pays like a slave because what the State pays you is a pittance, and they take more than 1,000% from the people to maintain that nefarious structure called socialism," he argued.
He also criticized the quality of higher education on the island and stated that many professionals discover their limitations when they leave the country.
"When you leave Cuba, you realize that what you learned there is of no use to you. You have to discard it and start studying again," she stated.
According to his testimony, the country where he resides offered him access to educational institutions that he described as "excellence," with both public and private options for students to choose from.
The video generated numerous reactions among social media users, many of whom questioned the official discourse on education in Cuba and pointed out that many professionals must revalidate or repeat their studies when they emigrate.
Other comments also mentioned the contradiction between the defense of the Cuban educational system and the fact that relatives of high-ranking officials study abroad.
It is the case of Díaz-Canel's own stepson, Manuel Anido Cuesta, son of his wife Lis Cuesta Peraza, who resides in Madrid on a student visa and is enrolled in a program at IE University Business School, a private institution with tuition fees exceeding 12,300 euros per year.
Some users recalled that to leave the country or to carry out academic procedures, Cubans must pay in foreign currency, which, they claimed, contradicts the narrative of the education system being free.
The user Marlens Catalá summarized the feelings of many: "I paid for my university education to the government of Cuba by working for six years in agricultural jobs, five days a week, on a scholarship and far from my family. Then for thirty years working for very little. I owe them nothing."
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