A Cuban identified on TikTok as Cuti CTT posted a warning video directed at his compatriots considering emigrating to Guyana, where he has only been living for two weeks and has already encountered a reality very different from what he expected.
In the video published on June 20, the young Cuban summarizes his initial experience in three specific issues: job scarcity, salaries below the legal minimum, and street violence that directly impacts the migrant community.
"The first thing I'm going to tell you, so you don't come here with false expectations, is that there is a lot of scarcity in jobs; finding work is really, really tough almost every day," he warns in the recording.
Regarding salaries, it is reported that the massive influx of Cubans, Venezuelans, and other Spanish-speaking migrants has created conditions for labor exploitation: "Seeing a lot of migration, they take advantage of the situation and are paying less."
As an extreme example, he recounts having met a compatriot who worked in construction from seven in the morning to seven at night for just 6,000 Guyanese dollars a day, an amount equivalent to less than one dollar and far below the legal minimum wage in Guyana, which in 2026 is around 111,502 a day (about 18 dollars).
The security situation he describes is equally concerning. He recounts that a Cuban friend who welcomed him to the country intervened in an assault on a couple of fellow countrymen: "They were attacking another Cuban and his wife, and he stepped in; they pulled out a knife, and there were stab shots. Thank God nothing happened to him, but they took his passport and money."
It warns about areas near public hospitals where thefts are common and urges those considering emigration to carefully evaluate their decision before taking the step.
The only positive aspect that stands out is the cost of food: "Food is super, super cheap. With one day's work, you can buy a week's worth of food, plenty, plenty, eating quite a lot."
Their main recommendation is clear: "If you don't have someone here who already has a job lined up for you or something sorted out, it's going to be quite difficult."
The content creator acknowledges that in Cuba he was, in his own words, "a slacker who did nothing," and that he arrived in Guyana with expectations that reality did not meet: "Money isn't easy to come by."
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