Michael Stastny writes,

Cubans don’t have access to “world news” (no foreign newspapers, no internet, no satellite dishes), so the people I talked with were actually quite happy with their situation (“We don’t earn much, but as opposed to other countries education and health care is for free!” (translation mine)) and couldn’t see that people in developed countries who are considered as dirt poor have a way higher living standard

He took pictures. Go have a look.

UPDATE: Tyler Cowen, who has traveled extensively in Latin America, is quite eloquent on this topic.