Cuba can trade with every country on Earth except for the U.S. If Castro had any economy worth the name, he could buy anything he wanted from Canada, the European Union, Japan, China, Korea, Latin America, etc., etc.
Europeans and Canadians do go to Cuba in droves. However, having an economy that only brings in money from tourism won't get you very far unless you have a very small population.
These questions are probably put very simply and miss all the nuances of the situation, but I don't understand how Cuba has so little money coming in. Any enlightenment would be appreciated and I apologize for my ignorance on the topic.
Let's take two of the economic powerhouses in the World: Germany and South Korea. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, West Germany had the most robust economy in Europe while East Germany was an economic basket case. Today, South Korea is one of the economic tigers of Asia while the people of North Korea are literally starving to death.
Communism is not a government for the benefit of the proletariat. Communism is simply the modern-day version of the fuedalism of the Middle Ages. The King is the Communist Supreme Ruler (Castro, Kim Jong-Il) and the feudal nobility is the Communist Party elite. Between them, they own all the property and means of production and by force of arms they maintain total control over the serfs (everybody else) who toil for the benefit of the King and the noble class.
Since, no matter how hard or how little the serfs toil, the noble class keeps them in poverty, there is no incentive to work hard and produce more. Since all private businesses are outlawed, the economy consists only of what Government bureaucrats dream up and will allow. Poverty and stagnation are the inevitable resuilts.
In the meantime, all my cousins and I who came to the U.S. from Cuba in 1960 with nothing but the clothes in our suitcases and our parents are now all owners of our own businesses and we are all multi-millionaires and so are some of my cousin's kids who have also started their own businesses.
Also, in the academic circles I run in, there are frequent requests for items to be sent to Cuba (I imagine thru Canada). What do Cubans think of this? On one hand, I would like to help professionals who are having a hard time doing their jobs, but if the real purpose of this aid is to support the regime, obviously I don't want to donate.
If you send a donation "to Cuba", dollars to doughnuts it will end up enriching the Communist Party elite.
Don't send donations "to Cuba". Send donations directly to a specific and deserving Cuban in Cuba.
In other words, be like Robin Hood and give the money directly to the poor instead of giving money to the Sheriff of Nottingham based on his promise that money given to him will help the serfs.