CUBAN ACTIVIST EXPLAINS WHAT’S REALLY MOTIVATING THE CUBAN PEOPLE’S UPRISING:

“The [regime] controls the means of production,” [Cuban freedom activist Marcell Felipe] said. “The flip side to the government providing everything is that you depend on the government for everything. So they have every means of control and not just with bullets and threats, but with food. If you protest, we take away your food. And part of what we are seeing is that the government’s inability to provide even the most basic foods is now resulting in the people no longer having anything to lose.”

No matter what media spin suggests, Felipe insists that the protests are a rejection of socialism and communism. “The Cuban people have rejected socialism and the socialist regime for the longest time, both in exile, here in Miami, and directly on the islands.”

The entire affair is yet another painful reminder that “socialism never works,” as Senator Rand Paul noted. “Here’s hoping Cubans will one day get their freedom back.”

Meanwhile, this is CNN: CNN’s Havana bureau chief tweets from Cuba that it’s impossible to know the real picture there because of the internet blackout: