Michael Moore’s idealized Cuba is a myth. You can read about the reality and brutality of Castro’s Cuba in several books by Humberto Fontova .

Closer to home, just read this Daily Tar Heel column in which a Cuban immigrant describes what her native country is really like and why she’s so happy to be in America.

The column includes this Q&A exchange (emphasis is mine):

Benitez, a resident of Graham, came to the U.S. in 2005 after winning an international Green Card lottery. She’d been applying to get out of Cuba since 1994.

Q: Why were you so eager to leave Cuba?

A: Well first, because in Cuba people cannot go to other country. They can’t have a relationship with people from other country.

The government in Cuba is very bad. You have to lie. For example, say a person from another country go to my country, I have to talk about my government good. I know it’s not good, but if I talk bad, maybe the police will come and take me or I lose my job.

Q: Did that happen to anyone you knew?

A: Yes. I know a person in Cuba. He sometimes talk with people about the government and he now is in jail for 25 years only for saying what he thought about the government.