Valuetainment - ＂$40 Per Gallon On The Black Market＂ - Nick Shirley UNCOVERS Cuba's Fuel CRISIS

00:00:00.000 So let's go to one of the clips. So what is this one video that you have here with you and the

00:00:04.160 fellow in the car? Yeah, so this is the intro to the video that's gonna be coming out in the next

00:00:08.260 video. The video has not been dropped yet? The video has not been dropped yet. Okay, so people

00:00:11.040 are seeing clips that's not public yet? No, you're actually the first person who's ever seen this.

00:00:15.200 Okay, so what is this? What do we see in this clip? So this I'm driving around with a tour guide

00:00:20.300 and the intro and then you'll see some other clips building up to it and then I'll show you

00:00:25.580 guys the gas stations as well. Let's see it, Rob. Let's see it. What percentage of people do you

00:00:29.400 are suffering here in Cuba.

00:00:33.440 What's your thoughts on communism?

00:00:37.820 Wow, so they're that public about it.

00:00:42.320 None of the gas stations are even in operation right now

00:00:44.640 because there's quite literally no gas.

00:00:46.820 We stand out like short thumbs here,

00:00:48.440 so they're wondering why we're here with cameras,

00:00:51.040 interviewing people.

00:00:52.380 They want to know what's happening and what people are saying.

00:00:54.240 That's why people are not talking.

00:00:56.140 They're asking why we're trying to leave the hotel early.

00:00:59.400 Cuba right now is facing one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world.

00:01:07.040 Cuba's government is a one-party communist-ruled country, and they are facing massive food shortages,

00:01:12.940 daily blackouts, and a lack of medicine.

00:01:15.320 And right now, a U.S. blockade is restricting oil and gas from coming inside of the country.

00:01:20.480 With communism and socialism on the rise in the West, I wanted to see what life in communism is really like firsthand

00:01:26.620 as Cuba has been living underneath communism for over 60 years.

00:01:30.400 Upon arrival, I completed all required documents

00:01:32.860 and had received a visa for journalistic activity.

00:01:35.740 However, once I landed, all my camera gear was seized,

00:01:38.660 and within 24 hours, I was planning my escape out of Cuba

00:01:42.080 after their intelligence followed me all day

00:01:44.620 and a two-star general came searching for me at the hotel.

00:01:48.580 Now it's the reality of Cuba

00:01:50.100 and eventually plan our escape out of Cuba.

00:01:53.600 Where are the people at?

00:01:54.660 Where is the people? There's no gas. It's not easy to move any day. Anyway, we have a lot of limitations for work.

00:02:09.820 None of the gas stations are even in operation right now because there's quite literally no gas.

00:02:14.480 When the United States captured Maduro, their main supplier of gas and oil was shut off.

00:02:20.600 So the country right now has hardly any gas.

00:02:22.680 And if you do want to get gas, you have to wait in a line from the government.

00:02:25.720 The guy that we're in our taxi with right now, he said his position to get gas is $1,200 in line.

00:02:31.580 And gas from the government costs around $1.

00:02:34.000 But gas, if you were to buy it on the black market, costs $10 per liter.

00:02:38.460 That's $40 per gallon if you were to buy gas here in Cuba.

00:02:43.120 Before they captured Maduro, was there gasoline in the gas stations?

00:02:46.380 Always. Always. It was easy.

00:02:48.560 He works for the government, too.

00:02:50.140 But it was easy to get gasoline.

00:02:52.700 Every day you can go to the gasoline station and buy it normally.

00:02:56.540 It was normal.

00:02:57.440 But nowadays, it's really bad. 0.72

00:03:00.040 ¿Y cómo está sobreviendo la gente aquí en Cuba? 0.58

00:03:02.300 Just imagine the reality of it.

00:03:03.900 With a thousand sacrifices and a thousand daily struggles,

00:03:07.900 the average Cuban citizen is the one really going through absolute hell here in this country. 0.99

00:03:11.620 It's so interesting being here in Cuba because everything is just like empty. 1.00

00:03:15.420 It's almost very like North Korea-like.

00:03:17.400 Where most people open it up.

00:03:18.320 When you come into a massive plaza.

00:03:19.660 Complaining.

00:03:20.880 I select.

00:03:21.740 I would ask people and then kind of get to a point in the interview where you can't answer any more questions.

00:03:26.680 They would say they can't answer the question.

00:03:28.140 Let me see the ending of it, Rob, because I've got a bunch of questions right now. 0.89

00:03:30.700 So this is like North Korea here. 0.79

00:03:32.160 Look at this.

00:03:32.860 Like, they have these monuments for their leaders, and it's just, like, desolate.

00:03:36.520 Like, when you come into a massive plaza, there's not even cars.

00:03:40.500 Listen, right now you can't even hear a car in sight.

00:03:43.120 And they have all this other portraits of people and past leaders of Cuba, yet there's hardly anyone even here.

00:03:50.800 It's very strange here. They're saying that this is even more quiet than during COVID, during the pandemic.

00:03:58.360 Less people are even leaving the streets than during the pandemic.

00:04:00.760 That's how bad the crisis is right now. 0.62

00:04:02.880 And the Cuban people simply just don't have money.

00:04:05.080 And they also just do not have the resources like gasoline to be able to go out and continue their normal lives right now. 1.00

00:04:11.360 Nick, let me ask you, do they have Internet?

00:04:13.380 Meaning, are they able to watch YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, or are they able to consume news?

00:04:18.240 They do, but they have to do it illegally.

00:04:20.240 they have to use a vpn got it so actually if you want to watch a tv show you have to go into a

00:04:26.720 booth and then they run it like on a hard drive and they give you a disc what do you mean like

00:04:32.560 they have these weird booths so if you want to watch media or tv you have to go to like a a person

00:04:39.380 who then you know how you like back in the day like my dad used to make playlist off cds right

00:04:44.560 they do that exact same thing but for uh movies and tv shows and so like right now they're like

00:04:49.920 releasing shows from like the 1990s in the in the theaters and in order to even use a theater you

00:04:55.660 have to have like around at least I think like nine people inside the theater to watch the show

00:04:59.680 if not it just gets cut off and there's all these blackouts right now with power so people really

00:05:05.520 aren't consuming much what was the strangest answer you got like what was a part where you're

00:05:10.020 like you cannot believe what somebody opened up and things they shared with you one person said

00:05:16.440 they haven't had eggs in a year eggs in a year like they talk about these books that they have

00:05:21.940 like i think they call them like their their ration book uh-huh where they where the government

00:05:27.560 controls how much food they get and they're like this is horrible we haven't even had eggs in a

00:05:31.340 year takes it years to get it eat a chicken like stuff that you wouldn't even think about here in

00:05:38.340 the united states but because of communism and the government controlling what people can actually

00:05:43.640 do and what they can eat it dictates their entire life did you ask about trump did trump come up at

00:05:49.740 all yes trump came up were they optimistic were they negative were they afraid they

00:05:55.100 the ones that opened up on camera they said it'd be good because they're sick of it like no one

00:06:02.340 there's a lot of brainwashing that takes place so i had a lot of old ladies were like oh no this is 0.50

00:06:06.660 good like they're fixing up these buildings but then you talk to some of the other individuals

00:06:10.580 that like this is horrible like something needs to happen something needs to happen so in the

00:06:15.220 video like i still i'm still going through and like blurring the faces of these individuals

00:06:18.920 because i don't want them to get sent to jail there's some people that like don't record me

00:06:23.140 i don't want to be on tv i don't want to be on camera yes a lot of individuals are like that

00:06:27.060 and you respect it you're like okay or you get to the point of interview and you ask a question

00:06:31.200 and the person then you're like okay yeah see like this is what happens like you i've reached

00:06:35.160 my limit here how many kids did you see in the streets actual kids like six seven eight ten

00:06:39.380 12 year olds really not that many i talked to a kid who's playing soccer at their university

00:06:45.580 he's probably like 12 years old and it's super sad because i'm like what's the biggest thing

00:06:49.740 affecting your life right now he says the lights they just cut the lights randomly i was like oh

00:06:55.180 and how does that affect you as a child he's like well it affects everything like studies like

00:06:59.420 we don't like we don't know when we have power and then there there really wasn't that many kids

00:07:05.860 out in the streets which is weird for being in a country in Latin America usually there's kids

00:07:11.400 everywhere yeah especially when it's a beautiful like Rob can you pull up Cuba on a map on a map

00:07:15.780 and details of how big it is how big is Cuba when you saw like what would you compare it to

00:07:20.400 like it was a big city um have you been to the Bahamas I have not been to the Bahamas

00:07:28.060 so if you compare the Bahamas zoom out a little bit Rob so that's Florida that's Cuba

00:07:35.960 It's not small.

00:07:36.980 No, it's a big country.

00:07:38.080 It's about two times the size of Haiti and Dominican Republic.

00:07:41.580 Yeah.

00:07:42.400 And so what part did you go to?

00:07:44.000 Did you go to Havana?

00:07:45.120 Just Havana.

00:07:45.940 Yeah.

00:07:46.300 Okay.

00:07:47.000 And there's two million people there.

00:07:48.240 And so there's two million people there, but the streets are empty.

00:07:53.580 There's two million people here.

00:07:57.460 Did you go to the hotel that Meyer Lansky built in Havana?

00:08:01.020 I don't know.

00:08:01.820 I was at the Hotel National.

00:08:03.700 Hotel National.

00:08:04.440 Is that like the main hotel?

00:08:05.600 yeah yeah is that it no that's a different property capital that's the capital um what

00:08:13.820 else were they saying things like we can't wait for something to happen are you here giving us

00:08:19.440 news are we about to be free would they seem like they're pleading for help with you or they were

00:08:25.140 almost afraid of speaking because there's two different energies right both yeah so obviously

00:08:29.680 some people don't want to speak out because they're sick of it but one of the individuals

00:08:33.000 was like see this is why it's gotten like this because we can't speak out and so people are

00:08:37.140 grateful that you're actually going and showing what's happening and because I'm not going on a

00:08:41.520 I didn't have a tour guide from the government I was able to actually go out and do journalism

00:08:45.600 there's a lot of people who have gone to Cuba lately and they're going on these propaganda

00:08:48.700 trips and if you watch their videos they're only interviewing certain people or their tour guides

00:08:53.740 taking them to certain spots I went all by myself and then I was supposed to go for about 60 hours

00:08:58.580 turned in 24 because they all like they surrounded us at the hotel so what was the reasoning for you

00:09:05.960 wanting to turn around did you just not my security was like we got to go okay they they said this is

00:09:11.000 like the one of the more risky situations they've ever been in and this is coming from guys who

00:09:16.400 have gone to haiti and who have done uh anti-human trafficking missions in

00:09:21.340 in mexico and in haiti so how easy was it for you to change the flight and come back early was that

00:09:26.420 pretty smooth and easy it's pretty smooth but we didn't want we didn't want to let them know

00:09:30.360 and tip them off that we were leaving early so i think we booked the flight at like 3 a.m

00:09:35.140 but it didn't help because at the when we went down to leave the hotel the two-star general was

00:09:40.980 waiting for us and so we had went out to go get the taxi and then the security guard comes he's

00:09:47.580 like hey don't run they're here they want to talk to you what did they ask you so the guy the the

00:09:53.780 general it was like a movie like i can't it's hard to even put it into words because if the

00:10:00.400 feelings and then also like the scenery of it it's like the the stars on the hat like everything

00:10:06.000 that you would expect to see from a from from a movie and they take us back into this room he has

00:10:12.260 a secretary with us and he's asking he's like hey why are you guys leaving early what was the

00:10:17.440 purpose of you're asking you why you're leaving early yeah like why are you leaving early we saw

00:10:21.240 But we heard that you had an interaction out in front of the hotel.

00:10:25.340 It was everything all right.

00:10:26.440 And that confirmed that that lady who started taking the cameras reported us to the government.

00:10:31.460 Because they would have not known about that.

00:10:33.180 They would not have known about that.

00:10:35.180 And are you tipping folks?

00:10:37.120 Are they receiving cash from you?

00:10:38.480 Do they accept tips?

00:10:39.500 What was their reaction when you gave them money?

00:10:41.340 Yeah.

00:10:41.700 So their monthly salary is $14 USD.

00:10:46.220 And so I was tipping money.

00:10:47.400 I was like giving money.

00:10:48.220 Monthly salary is $14.

00:10:49.520 Yes.

00:10:49.840 like that's how bad it is and then you gave him tip was it because i remember being in guatemala

00:10:55.000 i went to puerto barrios livingston tical in guatemala city and i'm going around giving tips

00:11:00.420 to people i i gave 50 tips and i couldn't one mother where her kid starts crying when i give

00:11:07.460 it to her she says you don't understand how much money this is what was the reaction they gave you

00:11:11.080 when you tipped them they wanted more oh they wanted more yeah these guys were capitalists

00:11:15.660 they're greedy yeah okay well at least in every communist there's a capitalist deep down inside

00:11:19.820 yeah so i mean you'd give them money and you'd give them i don't really took one dollar bills

00:11:24.820 and five dollar bills so you'd give them one dollar bill three dollars five dollars and then

00:11:29.160 they'd want more and more and so like eventually but like i had like a group of people following

00:11:33.540 me around asking for money i was like hey you guys stop i don't have any more so the moment

00:11:37.880 they found out you were tipping did you find any other americans there that if you're at the hotel

00:11:42.160 at the lobby were there other americans that are coming and talking to you not coming to talk to

00:11:45.960 me there was other tourists and it was interesting that these tourists like a lot of them uh they

00:11:51.540 were wearing like the communist gear like they're wearing the shirts of jay the communist leader and

00:11:57.380 it's so interesting that you had like all these americans not even that many americans we had all

00:12:02.700 these i don't know where they're from um america or europe but they're all like pro-communist

00:12:09.980 And I'm like, how can you see what I just saw on the streets and say, let's have more of this?

00:12:15.260 I'm Nick Shirley, and you guys can find me here on my neck.

00:12:17.440 Go ahead and ask me any questions, whether it be about politics, about what I believe or where I think the future of the country will be going, or just quite frankly, anything.

00:12:26.040 You can ask me here on my neck.

00:12:27.600 I really appreciate all your support.

00:12:29.220 I can't wait to answer your questions.

00:12:31.160 If you enjoy this video, you want to watch more videos like this, click here.

00:12:33.740 And if you want to watch the entire podcast, click here.

00:12:39.140 You

Valuetainment - May 07, 2026

＂$40 Per Gallon On The Black Market＂ - Nick Shirley UNCOVERS Cuba's Fuel CRISIS

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