-- Luke
You outdo yourself here in twisting both reality and questions to suit your perverse worldview, whatever it is. If you think you can compare Cuba's opportunity to thrive with South Korea's and West Germany, you are simply ignorant. In fact, your doubling over to sustain your prejudices leads you into this originally off-topic comparison, which actually destroys your attempted argument. Castro, just like the Sandinistas 20 years later, initially asked for U.S. recognition and help, and the U.S., of course, rejected the request. The U.S. has spent 45 years trying to strangle Cuban development. Both South Korea and West Germany were reindustrialized at U.S. taxpayer expense, and handed both access to markets and massive sustained U.S. military spending.
So the question is: What would Cuba look like if the U.S. HAD provided it with as much aid and access as SK and the BDR? Then we really would have the threat of a good example.