A content creator walked along the Paseo del Prado in downtown Havana to ask passersby a simple question: "When I say United States, what is the first thing that comes to mind?"
The responses, gathered in a video published on Facebook by VictorG Youtuber, paint a mosaic of hopes, frustrations, and contradictions that reflects the mood of a segment of the Cuban population.
The word that appears most frequently in the responses is "prosperity." It is followed by food, clothing, freedom, and work. Several interviewees immediately mention the absence of power outages, water cuts, and gas shortages as the most concrete advantages they associate with living in the north.
"It's a complete change. The electricity doesn't go out, the water doesn't run out, the gas doesn't run out," summarizes one of the interviewees. Another states it more succinctly: "As long as it means not being here, everything is fine."
A young man connects the U.S. with the culture he consumes: McDonald's, Travis Scott, trap, and drill. A girl confesses that her dream is to be a Hollywood actress and to visit New York. Another interviewee summarizes it in a phrase that encapsulates decades of aspirations: "The American dream, freedom, work, money, house, car, everything rich, everything prosperous."
Not all reactions are ones of admiration. An older man downplays the difference: "The United States is a country just like Cuba. What happens there is the same as what happens here... the big fish eats the little one, there, here, and anywhere."
Another person states that the U.S. government "doesn't sit well with me," although they add: "Anyway, may you who want to go over there succeed, and may God bless you all." A third individual rejects the idea of living there due to the "political complexity," although they acknowledge the country's development.
There are those who respond with humor. When asked, an interviewee responds, "You have to laugh to avoid crying." And the video ends with a voice stating bluntly, "In freedom, in progress, in capitalism, in so many good things that we cannot achieve here."
The material was recorded during the worst energy crisis in Cuba in decades. In 2025, the electricity generation deficit frequently exceeded 1,700 megawatts, with blackouts lasting more than 20 hours a day in some provinces. The scarcity of food, fuel, and medicines is structural, and the migratory exodus shows no signs of stopping.
According to the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, 78% of respondents in Cuba in 2025 wanted to emigrate or knew someone with that intention, and 30% indicated the U.S. as their preferred destination. An independent survey from May 2026 with over 42,000 valid responses showed that 60.9% of participants supported a direct military intervention by the U.S. in Cuba.
The perception of the U.S. among Cubans on the island blends the anti-American sentiment inherited from decades of official propaganda with a genuine desire to emigrate and a fascination with American popular culture. Miami appears in the video as a recurring symbol, to the extent that one of the interviewees sums it up by saying, "Miami is Cuba."
For a young person still studying on the island, the decision is already made: "As soon as I graduate," he says, with his sights set on the other side of the strait.
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