Societies are simple...
Food:check...largest tracks arable land on the planet
Trade routes check: most warm water seaports in the world
Peace check: no wars fought on the soil in 160 years
Resources check: largest coal deposits, and plentiful oil, massive amounts of mineral wealth
Largest river transport: North south river transport is most efficient in the world
cheap labor: ...last to stop the use of slaves and still relies heavily on cheap immigrant labor..and have for our entire history. 9/10 new business are started by 1st generation immigrants..even in 2020!
Even with all of this...we are the 2nd fattest nation in the world...we score 30th on standardized test scores across the world...haven't won a major war in 85 years...don't dominate the olympics...we do not dominate in innovation or technological advancement. Baxter summed it up...we are fat, stupid, ignorant, but have been given the best possible situation of any person on the planet and yet we aren't exceptional at anything. Can you imagine if Japan or Germany spent 1 trillion a year on military?
Does Cuba or Venezuela has the fortune of any of these benefits, let alone all of these? Don't forget that our super status also allowed us to manipulate Cuba and Venezuela to benefit america...so much so that their moderate governments were overthrown and replaced with socialists. Despite the appearances Venezuela and Cuba are nationalist states, they use socialist elements...but ultimately their goal is to limit foreign influence. The only reason they have done this is because of our influence.