Emely is in her forties, living in the outer edges of central Havana. She belongs to a recent wave of upwardly mobile Cubans, economically emancipated by relaxed property and private enterprise laws.

Of all Cubans, who talk politics far more freely than you might expect, it is precisely those of Emely’s type who are assumed to be most hostile to the government. She is after all, a member of a rising “middle class” who international pundits so confidently predict will usher about change in Havana.

Certainly, she is critical of the government in some respects. She paints it as disorderly and fickle, prone to random policy lurches; reacting clumsily to threats real and imagined. The material situation of the country is also ripe for criticism. Smartphones, laptops, and selfie sticks appear readily available, but basic consumer goods, like toilet paper and shampoo, are often hard to come by. Realizing that fancy soaps can be coveted like precious gems gives you some sense of the mundane frustrations of daily life in the Western hemisphere’s only Communist state.