I have vague memories of when I was a kid. People getting killed at the Berlin Wall when trying to escape to the West. Now that I can understand. When you are starving and oppressed and just on the other side of that wall there is freedom and abundance, well, it is very tempting.
But I also remember airplanes being hijacked and taken to Cuba. This I do not understand. Who were these people hijacking airplanes to Cuba and what were they thinking? I mean, you do have the freedom to leave and go there so long as you are willing to pay the fare. Did these people really believe there was a wonderful life awaiting them in Cuba and the only way they could get there was hijacking an airplane? Were they trying to get a tropical vacation without paying the fare?
Could it be that it really did not happen but once or twice and it became a stereotype? Or did it happen as much as I seem to think? What happened to those hijackers? Are they living happy lives in Cuba? What happened to the airplanes? I assume they were returned after having a close look at them Hainan style?
Inquiring minds want to know.