>>>>>>One question: Why do you think the embargo is responsible for the poverty in Cuba?
>
>>Almost no other nation would have dare to trade with Cuba. They knew the Americans would penalize them and their economies suffer. The old divide and conquer technique.
>
>Oh, I am sure the embargo was inconvenient and diminished the Cuban economy in the short run.
>In the longer run, official trade with countries not friendly to the US, and unofficial trade would still happen,
>IF Cuba had anything to trade.
>
>Cuba's extreme poverty has other causes that are rather obvious.

Extreme poverty? if extreme poverty means not being able to got to a store on a Black Friday and buy as much stuff as we think we need, then yes they are extremely poor.

Now, please don't get me wrong, as I said before I am not a communist and I could not have lived in a communist country (I emigrated 8 years ago to New Zealand), that is why when I compared Cuba I did it against Latin American countries (like mine, Guatemala). All the Latin American countries are "democratic" and "free" but none of them has any of the human and social achievements the Cubans have made. Other thing that makes Cubans a great society is their solidarity. Cubans (if you visit them) they share with you the little they have, and they share it with love. If any country has a natural disaster? Cuba is the first country to offer medical assistance, they do not only send the doctors, they send the doctors with all the required supplies and to even the most remote areas on the poorest countries.

There are always 2 sides on every story, and I am sure Fidel had a lot of flaws, but compared to any Latin American president of the last 40 years he was good. And let's be fair and recognize the good things he did.

As for the embargo, well yes sadly all the Latin American leaders at the time (with the exception of Mexico and Ecuador) were cowards and they were afraid of the US. For example Guatemala at that time, had already suffer a military intervention from the US in 1954 to overthrown our President because he was labeled as a communist by the then mighty powerful United Fruit Company supported by the US government. Now let me be clear as a Guatemalan at least, my country is poor and corrupt because of the Guatemalan citizens, we allowed it to happen. But please don't forget the huge influence the US Government had at the time (and still does) to put any puppet as president of third world countries. Similar to the way the Russians did it in any country under the Iron Curtain. As history will show you, the poor countries were caught always in proxy wars (either civil war, or an international one), Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Congo, etc.

Cheers,

Luis