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With Cuba, it's (unfortunately?) really hard to make a convincing argument that its situation had nothing to do with enemy action. If it really were so intrinsically dysfunctional, the US would perhaps have done better to leave it alone and give it all the rope it needs to hang itself with, making it into a cautionary tale, but as it stands, no peoples trying to decide on what economic or political system to support will be taking away any lesson other than "don't piss off a superpower when you are stuck in its backyard with no allies that are willing and able to help" (a lesson I'm sure Ukraine will come around to eventually, and even Taiwan might learn if it doesn't drown in a sudden deluge of
LCLpaperclips first).While not being able to trade with the US is certainly detrimental to Cuba, it is hardly explanatory as to its utter dysfunction. Access to 1 market, even if it is a huge close market, is simply not capable of producing such negative results. Particularly because Cuba is free to trade with Europe, South America, its island neighbors, etc. Its a small island. Even if it was producing goods and services on a per capita basis rivaling a US state, those markets would be more than adequate to absorb all that output and more.
The only thing that the US opening its markets up to Cuba would really do, or would have done, is piss off a bunch of Floridians, who might storm Havanna in boats. Which would be good for Cuba long term of course, because obviously there are enough Cuban-decent former marines to take out the Castro regime if given a green light, but well there it is.
Nope!
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/addressing-threats-to-the-united-states-by-the-government-of-cuba/
"(a) Beginning on the effective date of this order, an additional ad valorem rate of duty may be imposed on goods imported into the United States that are products of any other country that directly or indirectly sells or otherwise provides any oil to Cuba"
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