Cuba

Seen on the website of the Financial Times :

“There is no freedom of speech, of religion or of assembly in Cuba. There is no independent judiciary nor right to a fair trial. Why does this vile, repressive regime survive?”.

The question is asked by prof. William Buiter on his blog http://blogs.ft.com/maverecon/.

Right he is, but why is this type of question more often than not asked about Cuba and not about Saudi Arabia and so many other "allies" of the West ?

Could the answer be a three letter word, like oil ?