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Cuba gets around the U.S. embargo in the following way, and I’m only speaking from my part of the world: U.S. products are shipped into Panama and are taken to the Free Zone in Colon (Atlantic side). From there, the products are shipped to Cuba. I don’t know how payment is made. Anyway, when I was in one of Cuba’s state stores, I saw very few (one?) U.S. product (can goods). It was something like a can of peaches. The major part of their can goods (the little they had) was from Europe.

This made me think that Castro and his cronies must be keeping the U.S. products for themselves. They certainly aren’t getting on the shelves; and unless the Free Zone has a lot of sales to Cuba, it wouldn’t be doing business with them.

A large number of US citizens have been travelling to Cuba via Toronto and Vancouver - by-passing the US ban. By what I understand, the Cuban customs / immigration officials never marked the US passports at arrival / departure and the Canadian officials only cared about when they were leaving Canada or declaring asylum. This way, ban-passers don't get hassled when they cross the US Border.

One time I arrived at Toronto's Pearson airport one evening on a business trip. While waiting in the Canadian immigration line, a Air Canada flight arrived from Havanna and around 50% of that flight was American college students returning from a Leftist vacation / retreat. They were all joking about how they were slipping one past "the man" and this was right after 911. All of the Americans in front of me were re-admitted into Canada without a hitch to eventually return to America at some time in the future.