International Political Economy : Cuba 's Economic Sanction

Cuba is a communist nation still present from the cold war era when Russia and Cuba had ties together. The government in Cuba is very corrupt and the officials take bribes from other officials or regular citizens in Cuba. Political corruption in Cuba is a very big issues. hI believe that all government is corrupt in some way, but it seems like Communist nations are more corrupt than capitalist nations like the U.S

In 1959, Cubareceived 74 percent of its imports from the US, and the US received 65 percentof Cuba’s exports. On February 3, 1962, the United States imposed a fulltrade embargo on Cuba, completely ending any type of trade between the twocountries. This embargo remains in effect today, more than four decades later,and has grown ! to be a huge center of debate and controversy (DeVarona 8).Opponents to the embargo argue that the embargo does nothing more than hurt theCuban people, while proponents argue that the embargo places pressure on Castroto repair Cuba’s mismanaged and corrupt government. Both the supportersand the opponents of this embargo have strong arguments and evidence to supportthese

During the Cold War, relations between Cuba and the United States were icy. Cuba was allied with the USSR, America’s enemy, and was well within their sphere of influence. With events like the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis happening on their soil, Cuba was at the center of the Cold War. Between ideological differences and their alliance with Russia, Cuba became an enemy of America as well. It took the efforts of ten American presidents, six Popes, and countless other actors, but Cuba and America are finally in the process of normalizing relations. There is still work to be done, but the path is clear and the time is right. However, one cannot simply ignore the last fifty years. In that time, millions of lives were affected by the lack of social, economic, and political ties between the U.S. and Cuba. In this paper, I will analyze the last fifty years of U.S. - Cuban relations by looking at the involved actors, their means, and their values and interests through the lenses of two paradigms, realism and constructivism.

The Cuba Policy came into effect to end all relations between the United States and Cuba. The U.S. policy toward Cuba is controlled by the embargo, which contains economic agreements and restrictions on travel to Cuba. The effect of this policy is to minimize commercial, political and resident relations between the United States and Cuba. The State Department indicated that the purpose of the embargo was to have a nonviolent transition to a secure, democratic form of government and respect for human rights in Cuba.

There are many countries that the United States frequently traded with who are now under a set of economic sanctions today. The sanctions were designed to restrict a country to the resources of their country and their allies until they comply with specific request. The US-Cuban sanctions were suppose was supposed to be in place until democracy and human rights were restored in Cuba. One effect of the sanction resulted in Cuban citizens only being able to purchase vehicles made before 1958. Although this is a minor effect of sanction, can you imagine if you were only able to possess a microwave that was made before 1958?

One of the most controversial and widely debatable issues that have been discussed extensively in international legislation for several decades is the Helms-Burton Act. The main controversy surrounding the Helms-Burton Act is the resistance from the Cuban government regarding the features of the legislation. The resistance is a clear demonstration of the legality of property claims despite of the passage of time. Throughout history, rarely has an initiative by the American government to enforce its political opinion on economies of other countries generated much anger like the 1996 Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity or Helms-Burton Act. Even though President Clinton initially opposed the legislation, it was enacted after the downing of two planes by Cuban Air Force that were flown by members of an anti-Castro organization in America. The enactment of this legislation resulted in the America's Cuban Conundrum whose main issues are addressed in this article.

In the Treaty of Paris of 1898, Spain relinquished all sovereignty over Cuba. For a time, the policy of the United States toward Cuba was somewhat ambivalent. The Teller Amendment at the beginning of the Spanish-American War had pledged the restoration of Cuba to the Cubans. However, at the same time the United States was determined that it would not be placed after the war with Spain in a worse position in regard to its vital interests in Cuba than it had been when Cuba was a Spanish possession.

Cuba’s colorful history can be documented to before the days of the American Revolution in 1776, but today, American policy directly affects many Cubans’ lifestyles because of a nearly 45-year-old trade embargo that has been placed on the island nation. It is crucial to analyze the development of Cuba and its neighboring island nations in order to discern the reasons for Cuba’s current political situation with the United States. The following paper will discuss the events that shaped Cuba and larger Caribbean nations like Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica; next, a detailed description of Cuba’s turbulent history will help in explaining the Cuban transformation into a

The U.S. imposed an Embargo against Cuba on Oct. 19, 1960. Has the time come to the United States to lift the five-decade embargo? The Embargo was a part of America’s Cold War strategy against the Soviet Union, imposed on the belief that Cuba was a threat to the U.S. since the Soviet Union was a danger to the National Security because of its alliance with the Soviet Union. Although Cuba would like the U.S to terminate the embargo against their country, the U.S. wants Cuba to make their situation a better living environment and to promote human rights for its citizens before any sanctions are removed.

In the early 1900’s, Cuba was a stomping ground for many of the rich and famous from the United States. Many famous movies stars and wealthy business entrepreneurs spend their vacations there along with a substantial amount of money. Trade and commerce between the United States and Cuba flowed freely and abundantly. Even with the Dictatorship-like regime of Batista, the countries benefited from the economic trade between them. This was all about to come crashing down as revolts against Batista occurred and Fidel Castro came to power within Cuba.

This week’s readings followed the perspectives of the United States and Cuba through multiple transitions of power throughout the mid-20th century and late 21st century. U.S. policies implemented by the various presidents over this sixty-year span were unable to solve previous hegemonic and interventionist ideologies. On the other hand, Cuba pre- and post-Cold War was a growing power that gave voice and representation to nations who had been previously colonized and dominated by bigger superpowers. Cuba wanted to end ties with the United States, a nation who had been instrumental in preventing their goals and fight for their struggles. Fidel Castro represented the legitimacy of Cuban goals and pursuits of nationalism across the world. On the

As economic hegemony and political and military superpower following WWII, the United States attempted to impose its will on many countries through the use of economic sanctions. There are many motivation prompting the use of sanction. First, it can be a proportional response to a challenge where the interests at stake are judged to be less than vital. Second, sanctions are a form of expression, to communicate official displeasure with a certain behavior or action . American reluctance to use military force is another motivation, especially in those instances where U.S. interests are not deemed sufficiently important to justify casualties and high financial costs. Third, the growth of congressional power helps explain the prevalence of economic

Considering the circumstances of the embargo, Cuba has been able to sustain itself working around the minimum number of products they could get. Due to all the difficulties and not being able to trade with the United States, Cuba had to learn to stand on its own... the fact that they were limited in resources, forced by their circumstances, the Cuban people had to take their creativity and transform it into a survival skill. The embargo in a way brought a great deal of evolution to the

The purpose of this paper is to briefly evaluate the existing economic affairs of Cuba and how they relate to the principles of macroeconomics. According to (Arnold, 2011) Macroeconomics involves human activities and how they choose to perform in a very aggregate market as a whole (Macroeconomics, 2011, p.18). An appraisal of Cuban’s unemployment rate, government policies, inflation, and national output in addition to other plausible variances will minutely expose some of the many problems facing their economy. Cuba is just one of many islands amid the thousands all through the well-known Caribbean region and is the largest island in the Caribbean covering over 44,927 square miles. The current economic situation in Cuba stems

From the reasons behind the voices asking for lifting the embargo on Cuba is its Economic impacts on the U.S. economy. Some politician’s opinion is that beside the failure of the embargo in achieving democracy in Cuba and removing Castro regime, the embargo harms the U.S. economy as well. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes the embargo, stating that the U.S. policies impose real costs, and according to a study by Taxes A&M University in 2010, removing restrictions on the agricultural products exported to Cuba and lifting travel ban would increase the U.S. exports by $365 million and create 6000 new jobs in the United States. Also, some experts believe that lifting the embargo would benefit agriculture, telecommunications, tourism, and construction sectors.