Cuba is facing one of the worst crises in its history, with regional implications for the United States and beyond. In the last two years alone, 425,000 citizens have abandoned their homeland for opportunities elsewhere, a staggering 4% of the population. The reasons for this mass exodus are many: hyperinflation, food insecurity, fuel shortages, growing inequality, the six-decades-old US embargo, trade government repression, and, for many young people, the lack of a promising future.