I wish MBFC had coverage of The War Zone. TWZ is not very large, but they cite material really well, have informed discussion, and aren’t sensationalist. It’s great for mainstream coverage of military-related stuff. It’s bizarre that it started out on a car website, but it definitely has been one of my more-pleasant surprises online.
The embargo? Seized a bunch of American-owned property in the revolution. The US said “you can nationalize it, but you gotta pay for it”. The Cuban government said no, and the US said “then we won’t do business with you”.
Lot of property owned by Americans out there in the world. Makes people think twice about treating it as a free cash grab bag if the last group to try it regretted it.
Also, as someone else pointed out, it’s an embargo, not a blockade, which would be forcibly preventing them from doing business with anyone else, like, parking warships offshore and not letting anything in or out. A blockade would be an act of war. Embargoes are not.