Cuba Facts vs Fiction: Kevin Parrett's 4 Trips to the Island

Key Takeaways

• Americans can legally visit Cuba through 13 approved travel categories — Kevin's group uses "support of the Cuban people" and stays in privately owned casas and restaurants
• Cuba has zero fast food chains, a 99%+ literacy rate, and free healthcare and education — but doctors earn just $25 US per month
• CNN and Fox both painted Cuba at a standstill, but Kevin recorded a vibrant Havana that contradicted both networks
• China is rapidly increasing investment in Cuba while the US maintains a 60+ year embargo — BYD electric vehicles are now common on the island
• Over 50,000 Cubans live in Jefferson County, making Kentucky the second most popular state for Cuban emigration after Florida
• Kevin's message: visit now before foreign development changes the authentic culture forever

Summary

Kevin A. Parrett, Chair of Global Studies at ECTC, joined Hardin Local Weekly for an extended conversation about his four trips to Cuba since 2019 — including his most recent visit in March 2026 with a group of 13. The interview, which spanned roughly 31 minutes across two segments, covered everything from the logistics of getting there to geopolitics, daily life, and the growing influence of China on the island.

What emerged was a picture of Cuba that directly contradicts mainstream American media coverage. Kevin shared firsthand experiences of a resilient, welcoming population living in a country where the food is real, the people are resourceful, and Americans are genuinely loved — even as both governments remain at odds. The conversation touched a nerve with hosts Phil Taul and Scott Lucas, who connected Kevin's observations to broader questions about media literacy and the gap between reported narratives and lived reality.

Full Article

Kevin A. Parrett has been to 76 countries. He has taken students to more than 40 as the Chair of Global Studies at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College. But when he talks about Cuba, something different comes through. It is not just another stamp in the passport. Cuba, he said, "truly changes the way they think about life."

Kevin first visited in 2019 to attend the University of Cienfuegos, which remains the only institution outside the United States where he has earned academic credit. He fell in love with the island, connected with Colibri — a Cuban tour company whose name means "hummingbird" in Spanish — and has returned three more times since. His most recent trip, March 6 through 13, 2026, brought a group of 13 people along for the ride.

The logistics surprised even the hosts. Louisville to Miami is a two-hour flight. Miami to Havana is roughly 40 minutes. There are 13 legal travel categories for Americans, and Kevin's group uses "support of the Cuban people," administered through the Office of Foreign Assets Control under the US Treasury. Electronic visas arrive on your phone two days before departure. The group stays exclusively in casas — privately owned bed and breakfasts — and eats at locally owned restaurants, steering clear of any government-owned facilities.

What Kevin found on the ground directly contradicted what American media was reporting. "I took what CNN said and I took what Fox said," he told the hosts. "They said the same thing. They said Cuba's at a standstill, the people are starving, there's blackouts. And then I recorded a city street scene in Havana where everybody's moving, people are fed, they're eating, there's cars everywhere, there's buses." He is not dismissing the hardships — blackouts do happen, and inflation is starting to crack the system — but solar panels and generators have offset much of the impact. The blanket narrative of a country frozen in darkness, he said, is simply not true.

Daily life in Cuba operates on what Kevin called a different rhythm entirely. Doctors earn $25 US per month. Casa workers make $17. Healthcare and education are free, and Cuba's literacy rate sits above 99 percent — higher than the United States. The country exports its doctors to nations across South America, Asia, and the Middle East, with the Cuban government collecting the higher international payments while doctors who stay home earn their modest wages. Ration cards cover roughly two weeks of food per month. One member of Kevin's group ordered a four-egg omelet, and the casa staff explained that four eggs was their entire allotment for two weeks.

The food, though, is something Kevin spoke about with genuine enthusiasm. There are zero fast food chains in Cuba. The only McDonald's on the island sits inside the US military base at Guantanamo Bay. Everything is local, unprocessed, and prepared from ingredients harvested a day or two before. No pesticides, no bleached sugar, no frozen imports. Kevin ate three full meals a day and lost weight. He and Phil went to the same restaurant where President Obama dined during his historic visit — San Cristobal in downtown Havana — and had a full course meal with appetizers, entree, dessert, and drinks for seven to nine US dollars.

The misconceptions Kevin tackled head-on were some of the most compelling moments in the interview. Cubans are not anti-American. "They love us," he said. "They treated us well. They did not — nobody said anything negative." The tension is between governments, not people. More than 50,000 Cubans live in Jefferson County alone, making Kentucky the second most popular destination state for Cuban emigrants after Florida. The connection between these communities runs deeper than most people realize.

Perhaps the most striking portion of the conversation centered on geopolitics. The US embargo has been in place since the Kennedy administration, and every president since has maintained it. Obama remains the only sitting president to visit Cuba. Meanwhile, China is filling the vacuum. Kevin sees more Chinese investment groups every trip. BYD electric vehicles, manufactured in China, are increasingly common — the man who ran Kevin's casa drove one. "If we ignore them, then we're probably doing China a benefit," Kevin said. Phil echoed the sentiment: "We need to really work with Cuba and secure that area. That's the largest island in the Caribbean."

Kevin also noted that internet access only arrived for the Cuban public in 2019. Since then, smartphone adoption has surged, and the younger generation is beginning to question narratives they grew up hearing from their own government. There are no statues of Fidel Castro anywhere in Cuba — just one, enclosed in a museum. The Castro family is no longer in power for the first time in roughly 70 years, a sign Kevin reads as the country signaling openness to renewed relations.

His closing message was direct. Go now. "Once Cuba opens to foreign investment, the developers will come, the chains will come, the skyscrapers will line the beaches." The authentic Cuba — the one that changes people, that makes them come home more grateful and more aware — has a closing window. Kevin recommended the YouTube channel Belly of the Beast for anyone wanting real, on-the-ground Cuban news, and offered to connect interested viewers with Colibri and approved donation groups that deliver supplies directly to Cuban villages.