Comment by rayiner
7 days ago
You're pointing to the blockade of Venezuelan oil which just started. How does that explain the failure of Cuba to develop for the six decades before that?
7 days ago
You're pointing to the blockade of Venezuelan oil which just started. How does that explain the failure of Cuba to develop for the six decades before that?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_embargo_against_...
> companies that do business with the U.S. which trade in Cuba do so at the risk of U.S. sanctions. The U.S. has threatened to stop financial aid to other countries if they trade non-food items with Cuba.
> The U.S. government has pursued extraterritorial measures to enforce its embargo. Cuban ambassador Ricardo Alarcón cited 27 recent cases of trade contracts interrupted by U.S. pressure to the U.N. in 1991. British Petroleum was seemingly dissuaded by U.S. authorities from investing in offshore oil exploration in Cuba despite initially expressing interest. In 1992, the U.S. State Department discouraged firms like Royal Dutch Shell and Clyde Petroleum from investing in Cuba.
From “how is the us sabotaging Cuba?” To “but that just started” in one message. Fantastic stuff, hope you didn’t pay much for that law degree.
“It is the trade of lawyers to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour”
Thomas Jefferson
In law school, we learn that context is important! OP said: “‘Communism can never work,’ says leader of country that routinely sabotages or outright overthrows communist governments.”
It’s not like Cuba was working great until February 2026.
The context being that you _knew_ the US is sabotaging Cuba right now, but still acted as if it was an outlandish assertion. It shows you are presenting arguments in bad faith.
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Could you imagine Cuba with the per capita GDP of Florida?
Geopolitical and sovereignty awkwardness aside (big aside I know)…. it’s obvious Cuba, and especially the average Cuban, would benefit immensely from the island becoming a US state, no?
In an alternate universe, instead of the Castro 1959 takeover, a pro-US faction took over and requested annexation, and was accepted, since 1950s Americans all would have thought it was cool to have another cool tropical island paradise state. The Hawaii of the east coast!
If anyone thinks Cuba is better off in any metric now than they would have been in that alternate reality, I’d love to hear why.
> If anyone thinks Cuba is better off in any metric now than they would have been in that alternate reality, I’d love to hear why.
I mean, pre-Castro Cuba was basically a playground for the US rich. Like, the whole revolution was about kicking those people out.
Personally, I think that's morally justified, but I don't agree that what the US has done to them since then is morally justified. Obviously people differ on their opinions of this stuff, but collective punishment (which is what the US embargoes are) is generally regarded as a war crime.
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