Conveniently ignore the fact that Cuba is heavily, brutally sanctioned and essentially is operating with one arm and leg, one eye. It's not because of socialism, it's due to being in the shadow of a capitalist empire, namely the United States.
When capitalists are in control of a government like ours, it creates an immense amount of pain and suffering.
As a communist living in a capitalist economy, I had to learn how to earn a living and that entailed learning a very marketable skill. I live in the upper-west side of Manhattan in a very nice place, that is now after fifteen years of paying the mortgage, fully paid. I've been paying taxes since I got my first job at Subways in Miami Beach, back in 1985 at the age of 15. You don't have a clue.
By themselves. They weren't sanctioned by anyone else in the world but us. They could do business with anyone, and they chose other dictators.
Gosh, how unsurprising.