92
votes
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Why has Venezuela's economy collapsed when Cuba's has not?
The reason Venezuela's economy collapsed was its over-reliance on oil exports. In the last half of the 20th century, the Venezuelan economy focused on growing its oil industry, while relying on ...
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91
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Why has Venezuela's economy collapsed when Cuba's has not?
Wait up a minute. Who says Cuba didn't fail spectacularly?
Miami (and Florida in general) have a huge Cuban population. Generally, because Cubans did anything they could to leave that country ...
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81
votes
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Why did Israel vote against lifting the American embargo on Cuba?
Many countries consider themselves allies of the US, but few take foreign policy stances just because the US says so. (The US also does not always vote the same way as its allies.) The vast majority ...
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80
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Why is Cuba still leasing Guantanamo Bay to the US?
So why has the Cuban government not asked them to leave?
The simple answer to that is that they have.
From Wikipedia:
The United States assumed territorial control over the southern portion ...
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58
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Why did Israel vote against lifting the American embargo on Cuba?
I'm not even sure in what year that vote you mention was taken, because it's a UN tradition by now
The UN General Assembly has, since 1992, passed a resolution every year condemning the ongoing ...
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50
votes
Why did Israel vote against lifting the American embargo on Cuba?
Other answers focus on the US-Israeli relationship, but there is also no love lost between Cuba and Israel. Cuba sent troops to fight Israel in the Yom Kippur War after breaking relations the previous ...
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29
votes
Why has Venezuela's economy collapsed when Cuba's has not?
Venezuela made a headlong rush into state ownership of businesses, at the direction of Chavez and Maduro. Consequently, the businesses saw their experienced executives replaced by friends of Chavez ...
- 10.4k
18
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Did Castro seek thermonuclear war with the US?
In the greatest documentary ever made, Fog of War, Secretary of Defense (1961-1968) Robert S. McNamara talks of meeting with Castro who said he recommended to Khrushchev to use nuclear weapons to ...
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15
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Why is Cuba still leasing Guantanamo Bay to the US?
Why is Cuba still leasing Guantanamo Bay to the US?
Let's go back to:
1898: Spanish - American War
Cuba belonged to Spain and fought for their independence as the Spanish empire diminished.
US ...
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14
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Why haven't the embargos against Cuba and Venezuela worked?
Generally speaking external sanctions do not substantially affect a ruling elite directly. They can have a secondary effect e.g. oil sanctions reducing bribe opportunities, but these weren't a large ...
- 5,670
13
votes
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Is Cuba financially supported by Russia?
The Soviet Union basically cut off support for Cuba at the end of the Cold War.
Early 2000s American newspapers had articles about the practice of breeding and training oxen being revived in Cuba, ...
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11
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Did Che Guevara help send Gay people to labor camps also called UMAP?
This related question on skeptics.SE might answer the question: Did Fidel Castro put gay people into concentration camps?.
Cuba operated forced labor camps for those that did not want to, or were ...
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10
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Why haven't the embargos against Cuba and Venezuela worked?
US has already caused a lot of harm towards Cuban by imposing the indirect sanction rules that forbid any ship that docks in Cuba seaport from docking in any US port for at least 6 months. That ...
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10
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Is Cuba still intervening in Syria to help the Russians?
As Press Secretary Josh Earnest pointed out at the time, "we’ve seen no evidence to indicate that those reports are true." A Cuban official also called the Fox News story "irresponsible and unfounded"....
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10
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Why does the US still have an embargo on Cuba?
There are quite a number of articles published regarding this, but it's a little opinion-based. I'll try to list sources as I explain:
Why was the embargo stated in the first place?
The origins of ...
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9
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Did Castro seek thermonuclear war with the US?
Not sure if the source is the same but this is New York Times' take on the subject (a paper that is firmly left wing so hard to accuse them of possible bias):
Details Emerge of Cold War Nuclear ...
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9
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If Vietnam and the USA have normal relations, why doesn't Cuba-USA relationship improve?
Related: Why does the US still have an embargo on Cuba?
Is it a duplicate? Not exactly, but close and its answers aren't so hot either, so here's a cynical take on things (this kinda question tends ...
8
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Is there a firm estimate in the number of political prisoners Castro executed?
I won't quote all the sources listed here, but their TL;DR summary is
ANALYSIS: The dividing line between those who have an ax to grind and those who don't falls in the 5,000-12,000 range.
The BBC ...
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8
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Did Che Guevara help send Gay people to labor camps also called UMAP?
This is a pretty badly framed question, particularly in its title, but if the question centers on Che's role in the camp[s]...
No legitimate arguments can be made to defend Che's principal role in ...
- 144k
8
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What are the similarities and differences between the Cuba crises and today’s situation in Ukraine?
I'm sorry, but beyond minor superficialities I see no similarities whatsoever.
I may be too young to have experienced the Cuban Missile Crisis first-hand. Nevertheless, this standoff
lasted just over ...
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7
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Why does the US still have an embargo on Cuba?
It also should be noted that there is still significant support for the embargo in the Cuban-American community. It's shrinking as the first generation immigrants die off, but the second generation ...
- 89.3k
6
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Why haven't the embargos against Cuba and Venezuela worked?
Additionally to Alex's answer, the embargo is far less likely to work if it's ineffective in preventing other major powers from engaging with the country. Most notably,
Cuba has been USSR's (and to ...
- 91.8k
6
votes
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What are the similarities and differences between the Cuba crises and today’s situation in Ukraine?
Similarities:
A standoff between two major nuclear powers, with the heightened threat of WWIII and a major catastrophic nuclear conflict.
One party in the conflict was the United States, the other ...
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6
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What benefits does Israel get from the embargo against Cuba?
TLDR: Israel can't afford to risk the US UN veto and US support.
Well, first, let's see Israel's own reasons for the embargo:
In September 1973, during a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in ...
4
votes
Why is Cuba still leasing Guantanamo Bay to the US?
The simplest answer for why the US holds Guantanamo Bay is because they can. Cuba military is not even close to be capable of fending off a US invasion. Now, of course, the situation is more ...
- 7,903
4
votes
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How free are Cuban citizens to leave the country these days?
In 2013, Cuban authorities have scrapped the exit visa requirement.
According to an article by The Guardian, Cubans can now exit the countries freely. Cubans can stay overseas 2 years, up from the ...
- 46.5k
4
votes
The GOP, Obama administration, and Cuba
Cuban American Republicans in Florida have a history of opposing Castro. For example, the family of Senator Marco Rubio considered returning to Cuba after Batista was deposed by Castro but decided ...
- 89.3k
3
votes
Accepted
What's Trump's stance on re-establishing connections with Cuba?
He has stated that he would "terminate" the deal by Obama unless Cuba agrees to "make a better one".
Trump has threatened to reverse the restoration of diplomatic relations with ...
- 46.5k
3
votes
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Is there really an embargo on Cuba?
Yes, it is applied.
It is impossible for Cuba to trade with the USA. The USA makes it difficult for other countries to trade with Cuba - not impossible but difficult.
As an example, a communication ...
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