Independent journalist Nick Shirley recently traveled to Cuba, where he looked into the ongoing food and energy crisis on the island and asked residents about living under a communist regime.
Shirley, who gained nationwide recognition for his reporting on suspected fraud schemes in Minneapolis, was in Cuba for 24 hours earlier this month as the country faces an oil shortage and mounting pressure from the Trump administration.
In one interview, Shirley asked a Cuban man to share his opinion on communism.
“The worst thing to exist in life!” he said. “The worst thing to exist in life is communism because, in reality, none of them are communist. They get rich and exploit the people.”
He argued that the equality promised under communism “doesn’t exist.”
“They are the ones with everything,” he added, referring to Cuba’s communist leaders. “They have electricity, they have the nicest cars, they have oil, they have gas, they have everything. And the people have nothing. And the majority of the companies are theirs.”
The oil shortage has forced Cuba into island-wide blackouts, disrupting essential services, including hospitals and public transportation. Many Cubans are also forced to wait in long lines for food handed out by the government, which is typically imported.
“How can you live off a ration book that gets you three pounds of sugar and one pound of salt?” the Cuban man told Shirley. “Each year, they give you a chicken and eggs. Eggs haven’t arrived in a year. It’s been a year since I had an egg.”
Asked why some people in Cuba continue to defend the country’s communist system and government, the man replied, “The only ones who defend communism are with the Castro family, or someone who’s afraid of them, or someone who lives off the government — who gets rich from the dictatorship.”
He then urged Americans to reject socialism and communism.
“The worst thing that can happen in life is socialism and communism because it’s the great lie,” the Cuban man said. “It doesn’t exist. It just leads you to misery, harassment, hunger, and anguish.”
“Donald Trump and Marco Rubio, I am waiting for you guys, please, to see if we can live like people, to live like a human being,” he added.
This is the truth about communism from someone living in communism:
– Regime leaders get rich and exploit the people
– No food (hasn’t had eggs in a year)
– No freedom of speech
– No equality“It just leads you to misery, harassment, hunger and anguish” – Man living in communism pic.twitter.com/qSa4ref68U
— Nick shirley (@nickshirleyy) May 12, 2026
Shirley later claimed he was tracked by undercover government agents and a Cuban general while in Havana and said he had to plan his own escape from the country “to avoid being taken hostage.”
Cuba’s already bleak energy crisis worsened following the January capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces. After the capture of Maduro, the United States took control of Venezuelan oil sales and imposed a blockade around Cuba. Previously, Venezuela was Cuba’s main oil supplier.
President Donald Trump has sought to force Cuba’s communist regime to the negotiating table as it tries to hold onto power. War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the Cuban regime poses a national security threat to the United States. Cuba has been accused by American officials of aiding adversarial governments and maintaining close ties with regimes in China and Venezuela.
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