Erika Barris

Yacer González Cabrera was up for sending more than just a few messages.

So I said, OK, I'll record my questions.

And you record your answers.

And that's what we've been doing.

In one of his earliest messages, he told me things have been bad in Cuba for a while.

But the recent oil embargo and the resulting blackouts, it's affecting every aspect of life.

He tells me he worries about his parents because the electricity situation for them is even worse.

Because they both live in more rural areas and the government is prioritizing cities.

Yeser is the bike guy in Cuba.

And you'd think with so little electricity across the island, maybe bikes might actually be a good business at this moment in time.

Except to make any money, he needs tourists.

You can hear in his voice how hard things are.

He told me, I always used to see a lot of potential for my work in Cuba.

But now?

He doesn't see any future.

Hello and welcome to Planet Money.

I'm Erika Barris.

The long and winding economic experiment that is Cuba has an extremely uncertain future.

Then Yasser came of age in a much looser, some might even say capitalist-ish Cuba, where he could start his own business.

Today on the show, how did Cuba get here?