this post was submitted on 03 Feb 2025
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Leopards Ate My Face

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The first wave of Cuban immigrants to the US came immediately after the revolution, and it was mostly rich people. Castro was redistributing the land and the wealth, executing former police torturers, and going after crime lords who had been safe under the Batista regime, and every worm that could escape did so. These types were allowed into the US for their propaganda value because of course they wouldn't have any trouble going on TV and talking about how horrible communism was and crying about how their plantations were taken away from them by the government. That group of rich people and cops was already right wing by American standards when they came here, and set the tone for all Cuban migrants who came after.

[–] Gammelfisch 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

...and the following waves were prisoners released by Castro.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago

Under Reagan, but during the Special Period after the collapse of the USSR, a lot of them were economic refugees.