Yes, exactly. Countries are free to make that choice. They can't have their cake and eat it, too.

> The US isn't blockading Cuba

That's what you said, but it is a just a coy semantic game by any real interpretation. The US took extra measures and went out of there way to strong arm any potential trade partners.

No sane or responsible nation would give up trade with the US and major parts of it's hemisphere of influence (Europe, Japan, Korea, etc) to access an island with nothing to offer in an inconvenient place.

The US, out of spite, demolished the Cuban economy and then spent decades beating the corpse for good measure long after the fight was over or justified.

Last I checked, they basically only got access to meaningful trade from Venezuela and China for a few decades, right?