Nick Shirley

I lived amongst them for two years.

And even in poor circumstances, these people are some of the most happy people I've ever spent time with.

These people in Cuba.

And so I've spent a lot of time with Latinos in the inside South and Central America as well.

And these people are just, there's no hope left in their eyes, which is something you don't see even in poor circumstances in Chile, for instance.

People may not have that much money or they might not have all the food they would like, but they're still happy.

And that's something I didn't see in Cuba, which was different.

No, a lot of them, I would ask them about that, and a lot of them are ready for a change.

There was only one lady who was supporting the regime, actually, and she was one of the ladies at the university who was trying to cover up for the mess of the university.

And all the young people I spoke to, they're all ready for a change.

A lot of them even said, like, communism is the worst thing that can possibly happen.

Maybe I was surprised because I had filled out all the required paperwork.

It said my visa said journalistic activities.

Yeah, they seized all of that.

Other people had gone and made videos on Cuba.

I guess I didn't realize that all those people had gone with a guide.

With from the from the government.

So I was kind of going rogue.

And the government obviously didn't like that.

And that for that same reason, there's a two star general waiting at the bottom of my hotel room for me in the lobby when I tried to leave early, because we were being tell 24 seven.