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Yeah but it's also been under severe embargo the entire time. So are you seeing the effects of communism or the embargo? It's hard to tell.

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They still have the freedom to trade with many countries (China, Russia, Iran etc). China alone would meet the majority of their import needs.

Cuba in reality produces very little goods by way of quantity and quality.

Trade has to go both ways.

Maybe China can trade with Cuba but doesn't need sugar. Maybe countries that badly would want Cuban sugar aren't allowed to trade with Cuba. etc.

China needs sugar and is allowed to trade with Cuba. They import about $3B of sugar every year, mostly from Brazil. Most likely Cuba just isn't cost competitive: Communists have never managed to get the basics of agriculture right.

The embargo certainly isn't forcing Communists to suppress free speech or hold political prisoners.

yes sure but that's off topic. The parent wasn't talking about that, they were talking about the quality of the food being poor, electricity infrastructure bad etc. That stuff is impacted by being severely restricted from trade.

Those things are inextricably linked. If Cuba abandoned Communism then they would have plenty of food, even if the US trade embargo remained in place.

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