Essay on U.S. Policy Towards Cuba

Another reason forimplementing the embargo on Cuba concerns the corrupt communist government andUS hopes of promoting a transition to a democratic system. On February 3, 1962,President Kennedy was confident that “Castro was moving toward theestablishment of a to! talitarian regime in alliance with the Soviet Union”(DeVarona 7). This raised a huge national defense issue since Cuba is only 90miles from US soil. The US government claims that the transition from communismto democracy will help Cuba flourish, as other democratic countries in thewestern hemisphere have. (“Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of1996”).

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.

Even though Cuba is a little under 100 miles away from the United States, the relationship between the two countries has created an atmosphere full of tension and perpetual mistrust. When Fidel Castro decided to align Cuba with the U.S.S.R. and become a communist country, the United States of America was stunned and highly insulted. Because of their relationship, both countries have played a back and forth game of trying to outdo the other. This game and state of affairs in Cuba has created a large influx of Cuban immigrants looking for better opportunities and trying to escape poverty and persecution. This paper will be focusing on Cuban immigrants and examining different Cuban immigration laws, which allowed them to easily become United States citizens, including; the Cuban Adjustment Act, The Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1976 and the Wet Foot, Dry Foot Policy. It will also discuss whether the Cuban immigration laws are unfair to other foreign immigrants and whether the laws are relevant today. Finally, we will be considering the future and try to predict how the laws will change with the changing diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States and the imminent removal of the Embargo Act.

The Platt Amendment of 1901, gave permission to the United States to intervene in Cuban affairs if necessary and to rent land to the United States for naval bases on the island. Cuba had a strong relationship with the United States, but then the Cuban Revolution came and everything changed. On Jan. 1, 1959 Fidel Castro accompanied by guerrillas overthrew the government of President General Fulgencio Batista. The US supported Castro and his group by providing them with arms. During this period, the Castro government was very efficient which worried the American government, since Castro could turn against it. That's why in 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the CIA to attack Cuba. In April 1961, thousands of armed Americans disembarked

Goods or services of Cuban origin may not be imported into the United States either directly or through third countries” (2001) . According to the Cuba Policy Foundation, the United States loses up to $4.84 billion annually in trade and exports alone (Pepper 2009) . The amount of money being disregarded because of now defunct reasons is radically lacking in logic. A simple repealing of the embargo would bring both the United States and Cuba great economic success.

U.S. wanted Cuba to meet special requirements in order for the embargo to go into effect, including rules such as: transition to a democracy, demand Havana support small businesses in exchange for sheathing restrictions on remittances, denounce presence of either Fidel or Raul Castro in Cuban government, better living conditions for all Cuban citizens, absolutely no travel to Cuba, and promote human rights. Cuba has not yet met all requirements, but is currently working on them. Obama reversed some of these polices, such as, allowing U.S. citizens to send remittances to non-family members in Cuba and travel under license of religious or educational purposes. As of today United States citizens may travel to Cuba with only special reasons like religious or

Supporters of the legislation believe that prohibiting foreign investment will quicken Castro’s downfall. (Close Up Foundation) Many debate on the issue of why the U.S. should or shouldn’t keep the ebargo against Cuba. These debates deal with the effects of the Embargo on Cuba’s economy, humanitarian rights and health of the people of Cuba. The embargo today places a ban on subsidiary trade, Licensing, shipping and humanitarian aid. (Close Up Foundation) In 1992, the Cuban Democracy act imposed a ban on subsidiary trade with Cuba. This ban restricted Cuba’s ability to import medicines and medical supplies from third country sources. There have also been corporate buy-outs and mergers between U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies thus adding to the number of companies permitted to do business with Cuba. Under the Cuban Democracy Act, The U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments are allowed to license individual sales of medicines and medical supplies, supposedly for humanitarian reasons to make up for the embargo’s impact on health care delivery. According to the U.S. corporate executives, the licensing provisions are so tough as to have had the opposite effect. With this statement, it is assumed that there are fewer licenses given out for humanitarian reason therefore favoring the embargo and aiding in the downfall of health in Cuba. Since 1992, the embargo has prohibited ships from loading or unloading cargo in U.S. ports for 180 days after

Inconsistency underlies the logic of the United States sanctions against Cuba. The relevance of the pre-1990 objectives of the embargo became obsolete with the end of the cold war. However, the so called “Cuban Democracy Act” came up with a new objective of bringing freedom and democracy to the people of Cuba. The act demands Cuba to establish electoral democracy. Put it in other words, the act asks Cuba to permit the establishment of multi-party system, conduct periodic elections, permit freedom of press, and build democratic institutions which guarantee the protection of the human and democratic rights of the people. These objectives by themselves are noble ideas worth fighting for and promoting all over the world. Yet, the problem with the “Cuban Democracy Act” is it proposes to strengthen the economic sanctions against Cuba to bring about these ends. This requirement levied upon Cuba contradicts the basis of the United States relations with other countries around the world. Countries like China and Saudi Arabia don’t have electoral democracy whatsoever, moreover they are more brutal than the Castro regime in Cuba. However, they enjoy the status of most favored nation in their relation with the United States (Griffin 171). Thus, the question is what is the logical foundation for the

     It was after Castro took power that the United States changed its way in which it dealt with Cuba dramatically. The United States decided it would

The embargo on Cuba, placed by the United States in 1962 played its role during that time period, but we have moved on from that era. Based on the research and my findings, now is the time to move forward with our relationship with Cuba. There has been little to no support from our international relations to keep continuing the embargo. The European Union has plans to explore improving relations with Havana. Their hope is to move forward in the relationship between the European Union and Cuba. Unfortunately, with our recent election I fear that our future relationship with Cuba will not improve. For those who are for the embargo, by ending it would have obvious economic benefits for both Cubans and Americans. The U.S. International Trade Commission

The U.S. embargo is not being supported by the rest of the world and therefore the U.S. has very little economic grip on Cuba. The members of World Trade Organizations (WTO) are not supporting

The Platt Amendment states that the United States has the ability to interfere at various points in Cuba’s history. This gave America the ability to better serve its own interests in the region, including sugar

The paper will discuss the economic point of view of maintaining the hardline towards Cuba, the effects of the embargo on Cuban life and the general ineffectiveness of the embargo. The United States should choose to disassemble the embargo due to the fact that it is doing more harm than good to both countries.

The turbulent relations between the United States and Cuba became more controversial since the Cold War. They reached their apex on 15th October 1962, when after realizing that the Soviet Union was developing missile bases in Cuba, President Kennedy started taking strong procedures against Cuba. Indeed in February 1962 he signed the Embargo, which has not yet been lifted but reached improvements after more than 50 years, in April 2015 during Barack Obama and Raul Castro presidency (Renwick and Lee, August 4, 2015).

Able to weather a variety of political leaders, economic events, and historical eras, the U.S. embargo of Cuba is the longest and harshest embargo by one state against another in modern history. Following Castro’s overthrow of the Batista government in 1959 and threats to incite revolutions elsewhere in Latin America, the Unites State cancelled its trade agreement to buy Cuban sugar. Then, following a series of increasing hostile events, the United States severed diplomatic relations and initiated a full trade embargo in 1962. Trade between the United States and Cuba stopped. Spurred by the collapse of communism more than thirty years later, Congress