And it is funny you mention vacations since people in this thread have said that tourism is dead there due to this pandemic.
NPR Cookie Consent and Choices
and that is after this:
Trump administration orders Marriott to cease Cuba hotel business
Read the end of the article, there isn't evidence that the US has levied any real restrictions or penalties. Best they can do is discourage it. COVID fckd tourism everywhere, and hit Cuba particularly hard. I didn't say it was back to normal for them. But there
was tourism, while an embargo was being upheld. That would've been crazy to think in 1990. There was even a growing retiree community starting to blossom.
Cost Of Living In Cuba: Is It Affordable? - Retirepedia.
As far as trading in the region, most nations in Latin America aren't pushing to help Cuba because they're a competitor. It's convenient for them to blame the embargo. They dont want Cuba to open up completely, and create more competition for their tourist and agriculture industry. It's a line in the sand that was crossed a long time ago, but its convenient to say its there. European nations and firms have conducted business, but if you're questioning why that hasn't matured more rapidly? What incentive is there for foreign business to set up in a country where they cant own the real estate? I believe it was only until 2017 or 2018 that the island started to allow private homes to be sold. But by the nature of the island, it wasn't conducive to foreign investment. Before 2020, they were likely starting to open up more commerce. COVID destroyed their plans.
The biggest hurdle of this half assed embargo is when the US decides its ok to export to Cuba. It's convenient when farmers here need new markets to sale to. The Marriot example is one where they yield influence when they want which was convenient to use when the hotel industry took a hit.
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46791
U.S. exports to Cuba are concentrated in a few commodities, with chicken meat accounting for most of the exports (over 90% in 2020), followed by soybeans and corn (Table 1). In 2016 and 2017, after easing of the trade restrictions by the Obama Administration, the United States also exported notable amounts of beer, bakery goods and other processed cereal products, and chocolates. In 2017, exports of all U.S. agricultural products, except poultry, declined. U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba were lower in 2020, affected by Cuba’s deep recession amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but included a greater diversity of products
You should click the links in the article. Cuba is only exporting around $1 billion and importing $5 billion. That's not half-assed. Those major trade partners mentioned in the article are only doing at most 100 million a year in trading. Venezuela was a big partner until the US sanctioned them as well which has wrecked their economy.
The oil sanctions were imposed against Venezuela, which Cuba suffered as a result. The US has imposed sanctions against them since Obama. It wasn't aimed to Cuba specifically, but again who's pulling the strings under Trump on anything Cuba related? I have to think he wants to own a hotel there at some point. Why hasn't Biden rescinded the terrorist watch list? Florida Republicans.
A Timeline of US Sanctions on the Venezuelan Regime
Two things can be true at the same time. The island has had poor leadership, and suffered for it while their wealthy influential cousins stateside have done everything to thwart any potential of them becoming independently successful.
EDIT: I do hope Cuba holds, if that's what the people on the island want. My point has been, that more than the embargo, their community in the US has done the most damage to the island's prospects. The Vietnamese community had a minor group of people that didnt want their embargo lifted but didn't have the same influence.
