The close reading is very important in a story. It is what brings thing to an end and ties things together.
No, China is not a part of the Ring of Fire. It is very close to it and can be effected by it.
No, but it is very close. Should there be a major event that affects any part of Mexico there would be repercussions in Cuba.
Cuba is an independent nation. It does not belong to another country.
There are two countries that are very close to Jamaica but don't touch. These countries are Cuba and Haiti, with the Dominican Republic also close by.
Cuba had nothing to do with the building of Panama. In fact, they aren't even close to each other and by 1903 when the canal was started Cuba was all ready a very busy place full of Americans.
Cuba is very close to Florida. Any missile attack against the US that is launched from Cuba would arrive very rapidly and would allow very little time to deploy any anti-missile defenses. Hence, an attack coming from Cuba is potentially much more dangerous than an attack coming from Russia, which is very far from the US (not counting the proximity of Siberia to Alaska, which is of less strategic importance).
in Cuba the summer is very very hot
NYC is expecting about a foot - I don't think that's enough to close them, historically, as they very rarely close.
cigars are very popular in Cuba
It depends on what you consider to be communist, because while it is not technically communist, Venezuela is largely communist. It's ties are very large and part of the reason foreign investment from the USA would fail. Also aiding Cuba in a smaller capacity is China.
The people of Cuba are very poor.