Many people in Mexico visit Cuba. Some go for medical treatment or training. Others go for political reasons, but most go for vacations. There are package tours which include airline fare, hotels and daily breakfast for a couple that are very reasonable and attractive for Mexicans.
As a result we have met a number of people who have visited Cuba and their comments are very interesting.
One of the most common comments is that the US embargo is not working to isolate Cuba. It is not honored by Canada, Mexico, Europe, China or any other country. Only the US pays the least attention to the embargo - and lots of stuff still comes in from the US. This means that Cuban goods are sold on the world market, and Cuba can import anything it wants and can pay for. It also allows Cuba to obtain investment of any size from any country or person wishing to invest.
Since Cuba has almost complete access to the global market, their economic problems are not caused by the US embargo. Rather the embargo creates the perfect political defense for Cuba's economic dysfunction. And, the U.S. embargo has been totally ineffective in its goal of destabilizing the Cuban government. Instead, the embargo has become the convenient political justification for their economic woes.
It may just be that Cuba benefits more in having the embargo as a scapegoat than the US benefits in spite.
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