* The published figure of 10 million people is already outdated. First, they are official figures, which means that they are not telling the truth. Second, six months have elapsed; which means the actual number of residents is less than 9 million.
* Not only a large amount of people are gone, but most of them are young, productive people; lots of them professionals in several critical aspects of a functioning society. Where I work I'm only one of the few that remains in my activity (IT & IT adjacent).
* Also gone are many of the more... reactive? brave? People that voiced discontent with the government and just chose to leave. What remains are relatively elderly people that are very conformist, or simple are not brave enough to voice their concerns.
* Is Cuba a dictatorship? No.
* Is Cuba a totalitarian state? Absolutely. The Cuban Communist Party is the only one allowed, as is written in the (relatively recent) Constitution. Even more than that, it exists above the Constitution, so this texts has no value at all.
* Are there human rights violations in Cuba? Yes, no doubt.
* Does the US embargo negatively impacts Cuba? Absolutely. Every single day, for the common people, that is. The elites? The top dogs of the Party? Of course they are unaffected; they are your run of the mill corrupt people in power, and they can have anything.
* Can Cuba trade with other countries? In theory, yes... in practice, it is very difficult. In addition, Cuba is a minuscule market that interests no one. China, for instance, has very little presence in Cuba, despite we being "allies". But they don't care.
I don't know how this could unfold in the future, except with a total collapse. I really wish the end of the embargo, and the possibility of open an free elections. We, common people, are at the mercy of US politics and being managed by inmensely incompetent leaders. We could debate all week on who's at fault here, who threw the first stone, but, as of this moment, that would be sterile. This country will be gone.