>decades-long economic blockade by the United States

myth, an incredible myth, the US has a package of sanctions and an embargo, Cuba is free to trade with other nations. The reason of the economic powerty and Cubans not being able to live a normal life is mostly self-inflicted (by their government, not the people) from an extractive elite who kept the old colonial system but just changed hands and drapings, with who is on top, plus the disastrous results of marxsist-leninist economic policies who are blind to reality

Not a myth, and as for

> Cuba is free to trade with other nations.

  The embargo was reinforced in October 1992 by the Cuban Democracy Act and in 1996 by the Cuban Liberty and Democracy Solidarity Act (known as the Helms–Burton Act) which penalizes foreign companies that do business in Cuba by preventing them from doing business in the U.S.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helms%E2%80%93Burton_Act

I'm not seeing when the Helms–Burton Act was set aside.

How would a country do business with Cuba?

They are debanked from the global financial system due to US sanctions on any business who trades with Cuba

They can’t trade in US dollars, the global currency that nations most typically use for international trade

They can’t follow normal shopping lanes because boats going to Cuba have to stay away from US ports for 180 days

Any company can be sued by any American alleging they have benefitted Cuba

Also, the United Nations has voted unanimously multiple times to drop the sanctions on Cuba- only USA and Israel vote no. To say that it’s a myth that Cuba has been adversely affected by the US actions is plainly stupid.

When Chinese leaders met with Che Guevara and others, they were not very optimistic about their revolution either; they lacked a deeper understanding of socialism and respect for realism. This may also be related to the character traits of Latin Americans, which differ from the practices in Laos, Vietnam, and China.

There are no detailed data showing exactly how much negative impact the U.S. blockade and sanctions have had on Cuba’s economy. After all, the U.S. has long-arm jurisdiction capabilities in almost every domain, and it is very easy to use private channels to influence other countries and economic entities in their dealings with Cuba(Considering the United States’ notorious human rights record and its multiple assassination attempts against former Cuban presidents). for a small country, in the current U.S.-dominated, power-based international system, facing such unilateral hostility and sanctions undoubtedly adds many extra difficulties to their development.

Whether their development is good or bad, they do not deserve such suffering. The United Nations has held multiple votes on Cuba’s situation, and almost always the United States and Israel oppose lifting the sanctions. The world stands with Cuba, but unfortunately, some people do not.