Is Cuba communist?
The Cuban people, it seems, work at jobs owned by the government, and get paid (very little) by the government.
Whatever it is, it isn’t working. The people are beaten down. The intrastructure of the cities are in ruin. There is very little adequate housing, and it is getting worse.
Is that communism?
Yes, the government of Cuba is communist. The government owns everything and “allows” the people to use it.
My family is from Cuba. When Castro came to power, they dispatched itemizers to each household. They cataloged people’s possessions. My grandmother tells me that when she and the family prepared to come here to the states (1962), government workers came and made sure that everything on their list was turned over to the government. They could take nothing with them. Not her wedding ring. Not a second change of clothes. Nothing. Even glasses that were broken were kept in paper bags so that the government could account for them. They were forced to repurchase a car they had sold in 1960 in order to turn it in to the government.
And things have not changed. Friends who came to the states a decade ago reported much the same thing. They are a little more lenient now (I think they could bring their clothes with them), but had the same kinds of itemized list of household goods that they were required to turn over.