If you had a ‘great time’ in Cuba, then you didn’t really see Cuba
https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article211971624.html
I think something similar is true of many popular travel destinations, whether they are ruled by dictators or not.
Told this story before: Once for a Caribbean cruise, Mom and I flew to San Juan, the starting point of the cruise. On the way from the airport to the ship, I looked around at the slums we were passing through. Mind you -- Puerto Rico is an American territory which gets gobs of taxpayer money in aid (this was years before the hurricane) and the place looked like war-torn Beirut.
And then there is Mexico where my brother, SIL and others I know love to travel to -- "because they have such fabulous beaches." But if they ventured away from the resorts, they would see a whole different Mexico -- poverty, disease and, if they go alone, violent crime. Wonderful way to spend a vacation -- getting mugged, raped or even killed.
Every country has its bad spots, but why the H anyone would vacation in "socialist/Communist utopias" and other third-world countries is beyond my pea brain's comprehension.