"But why did so many want to escape?
Because of the propaganda which offered a better life and the fact that the US had imposed a state of Siege lasting fifty years.
Isn't it far more revealing to ask who so many chose to stay - there is no record of massive attempts to either escape or revolt?
Why do so many people emigrate - to get a better life - that's why
America has made sure that Cuba would never be able to provide that and the "free" world stood by and either participated in the blockade or turned a blind eye to what America was doing to an already impoverished (under U.S. influence) Latin American Country for political gain
Surely all this is self-evident?
Jim Carroll