>>One question: Why do you think the embargo is responsible for the poverty in Cuba?
>
>Because it impeded Cuba's economic growth. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cubans nearly starved. As I said in the piece, their caloric intake dropped by a third.

All true, but there is a bigger picture.

Losing the Soviet Aid was catastrophic.
That their economy was so bad that they needed aid to get enough to eat... is disturbing.

Blaming the embargo was great propaganda for Castro, but propaganda feeds nobody.
The bigger issue is that robbing people of economic freedom is just not a path to prosperity.
How could it be?

The fact is, other communist dictatorships end up in poverty and so did this one.
The embargo certainly did not help Cuba, but ignoring the usual and expected results from a communist dictatorship is just silly.