Yes, that's understandable. But why is the government not putting this money back into the economy? The power elite like Hugo Chavez live like kings while the rest of the country lives in complete squalor pretty much goes against everything socialism (which he espouses the values of) stands for.
All this oil money (enough to send off $1 billion instantaneously) and the people are broke and uneducated. Does anyone not see the irony in this? Socialism works! 
People I've met that visited Cuba said it was beautiful. They weren't tourists and didn't feel the country sucked ass. I'm not pro-communist, obviously, but the Cuban people do have some advantages we lack. In the same vein, there are a lot of medications outlawed here for side effects that still get used.
In the long run, a billion dollars is probably cheaper than an influx of immigrants into a poorer.