How the blockade of Cuba really works

This is a translation that Machetera produced at the request of Cuba-L Analysis, of an article that clarifies some important issues in regard to the blockade of Cuba, which too often, people outside Cuba still call an embargo.  Calling it an embargo is a way of diminishing its seriousness, and in fact as Machetera has written here previously, there are people who delight in pointing out that if Cuba has U.S. (or for that matter, Argentinean) products on its store shelves, it’s not a serious embargo after all.  It’s an argument for shallow minds.