U.s. Policy Toward Cuba

After it became officially globally acknowledged that Cuba was in fact a communist state and was being led through a dictatorship run by Castro, it did not take long before powerful enemies and essential allies were formed. The act of seizing all foreign land with none or very little compensation was received with great hostility amongst those who lost in their property through this process, and probably the reaction that had the biggest impact on Cuba’s economy was that of the US. Castro’s communistic policies did not of course help calm this resentment and also took part in leading to the establishment of trade embargos with Cuba from the US. This meant that Cuba would now lose a very valuable buyer of their precious sugar, [5] but they did however gain another one, a powerful nation that shared quite similar Marxist ideals and were quick to form an alliance with the Cubans, the USSR.

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.

Oct 2003: US President George Bush announces fresh measures designed to hasten the end of communist rule in Cuba, including tightening a travel embargo to the island, cracking down on illegal cash transfers, and a more robust information campaign aimed at Cuba. A new body, the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, is created.

Castro was not even aware of his impact on the people. In an interview with American journalist Liza Howard on April 30th 1963, Castro had given Liza “the impression that he was not completely aware of the extent to which terror had gripped Cuba” (United States. Central Intelligence Agency). The next strategy was to attack Cuba and Castro commercially, economically, and financially. Eisenhower administered the first trade embargo on Cuba on October 19th 1960. After working with the policy committees of US to Cuba, the White House had composed a document stating the regulations. This embargo covered all U.S. exports of good, but not medicines and certain foods. The States thought that creating this law against exporting would be taken as a form of more peaceful protest, to gain back the trading, Castro will need to step down from power. (United States. Presidential Directive). Castro also tried to restrict trading too, to get back at the U.S. to show that this was not a one way street. He created the Platt Amendment to stop Cuban sugar from being imported to the United States. In 1993 the US cracks down on Cuba intensifying the embargo in hopes of the economy failing. This soon forced Cuba into an agreement of allowing a certain amount of citizens to immigrate to either country per year. When Cuba shot down two U.S.

In the article, “Why Do We Still Have an Embargo of Cuba?” Patrick Haney explores the history of the embargo and the different factors which have maintained and tightened its restrictions over the past fifty years. The embargo consists of a ban on trade and commercial activity, a ban on travel, a policy on how Cuban exiles can enter the U.S., and media broadcasting to the island. These once-executive orders now codified into law by the Helms-Burton Act, have become a politically charged topic which wins and loses elections, spawned influential interest groups, and powerful political action committees.

As also stated by Mr. D’angelo, in a personal interview about the Cuban embargo, “Yes I think it will last until Cuban reforms, change in Cuban leadership…” This shows that many people, including professionals believe that the embargo will not end soon without the removal of the Castro’s. This idea of no Castro in the government makes sense since many speculate that even though Fidel is no longer is power he still has some influence over what his brother does. Vividly depicted, this is shown by a passage made by Catharine Moses from her book: “They might not like him, they might complain about him, might see his failing and might blame him for all the countries problems, but he is Fidel. He is in control of the island…”(pg. 7) In compliance, this just shows that many still believe he holds power and some hold truth to their hearts that it is Fidel’s Cuba. On an other aspect that goes hand and hand with the Cuban democracy Act is the declaration of John F. Kennedy that states that the goal of the embargo is to submit Cuba’s government into giving up its communist government. Evidently, this was the main goal of the embargo and Cuba has not, and for the foreseeable future, will not change its government from the communist one that it is known for. An idea and aspect that is clearly shown and supports the idea of containment, is that the embargo also

In 1975, the organization of American States lifted a long time standing ban and allowed member states to resume relations with Cuba. In 1977, President Carter attempted to make the situation better by lifting the travel ban for a college basketball team from the U.S. to travel to Havana. “In February 1963, President Kennedy made it illegal for almost all Americans to travel to Cuba” (History). The relationship between the two countries became non-existent in 1961 but by this time the U.S. and Cuba had exchanged diplomatic procedures. In 1980, Castro was accused of participating in a Drug deal with Panama. Castro denied the allegations and denied to help the U.S. to block trade and aid to Panama (Fidel).

The United States embargo of Cuba has its roots planted in 1960, 53 years ago, when “the United States Congress authorized President Eisenhower to cut off the yearly quota of sugar to be imported from Cuba under the Sugar act of 1948… by 95 percent” (Hass 1998, 37). This was done in response to a growing

When Fidel Castro took over Cuba by means of a revolution, he quickly established his government as the first openly Communist government in the western hemisphere. He petitioned the Soviet Union for aid, which was cheerfully given him. These events went against our current policies, as well as the Monroe Doctrine, which established us as the police force of the western hemisphere. Ninety miles away from the greatest bastion of Capitalism was now residing its greatest foe. This tense situation was brought to a boiling point by the arrival of

The Cuban Embargo, also known as “el bloqueo” to Cuban citizens, was declared by the United States in 1960 to eliminate imports of Cuban

This article details the history of the Cuban embargo, tracing its evolution as a tool of retaliation for the seizure of American property, as a weapon in the Cold War against the Soviet Union and its Cuban allies, and finally as an instrument of American policy for the promotion of democracy and human rights. The article then examines the actual impact of the embargo on human rights in Cuba today and highlights the contradiction between the embargo’s avowed political purpose and legal rationale-the promotion of human rights-and its actual consequences, which are harmful to human rights generally. The article suggests that, by harming Cubans ' economic, social, educational, cultural, and family rights, the embargo violates basic norms widely

Cuba and the Affects of the Embargo The island nation of Cuba, located just ninety miles off the coast of Florida, is home to 11 million people and has one of the few remaining communist regimes in the world. Cuba’s leader, Fidel Castro, came to power in 1959 and immediately instituted a communist program of sweeping economic and social changes. Castro allied his government with the Soviet Union and seized and nationalized billions of dollars of American property. U.S. relations with Cuba have been strained ever since. A trade embargo against Cuba that was imposed in 1960 is still in place today. Despite severe economic suffering and increasing isolation from the world community, Castro remains committed to communism. (Close Up

The United States did not just put sanctions on Cuba after Castro came to power but also was trying to exert it’s power over the country when Batista was in power. The US wanted Batista to give up his leadership of the country so a new government could take over but the State Department was unsure how to go about accomplishing this since there wasn’t enough information to show what group could lead the Cuban people. These decisions that were made follow, albeit loosely, along the line of two decision models we have studied: the Presidential model and the Administrative Model.

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