The United States and Cuba have experienced a volatile relationship dating back to the late 19th century when the United States defeated Spain and Spain’s claims on Cuba were ceded to the United States (Timeline). Cuba experienced democracy in the early 1900’s, but the government was marred by corruption and eventually Gerardo Machado is overthrown in a coup led by Sergeant Fulgencio Batista. The Batista regime was overthrown by Fidel Castro and his leftist beliefs led to poor relations with the United States. The US did not want a communist nation 90 miles from its border and they wanted change in Cuba. They supported a failed attempt to over throw the Castro government and eventually turned to economic actions to try to force change in leadership. …show more content…
Human rights activist provide evidence that the embargo is just as guilty of harming people as the Castro government. The report by Amnesty International states “The negative impact of the embargo is pervasive in the social, economic and environmental dimensions of human development in Cuba, severely affecting the most vulnerable socioeconomic groups of the Cuban population (The US Embargo).” The estimate from Cuba is that the embargo has cost the Cuban economy over 1 trillion US dollars over the past 54 years, but the Castro government is still in power, therefore the embargo does not appear to be working. Dan Griswald, director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, makes the argument that the embargo has failed for 4 decades. He explains that the US military determined that Cuba does not pose a significant military threat to the U.S. or to other countries in the region and contrary to the long term goal the embargo really improves Castro’s standing by giving him an excuse for the failures of his government and socialism (Griswald). Improvement in human rights and improvements in the social welfare and opportunities for the Cuban people is another justification to continue the embargo, and this is met with resistance. The embargo’s …show more content…
Noted earlier was the fact that the national security issue has been addressed, and US military determined that Cuba does not pose a significant military threat to the United States or to other countries in the region (Griswald). That means with respect to lifting the embargo, we can focus more on the people and the impact of the embargo on Cubans. The fact that Cuba is making progress with moves towards private enterprise and an admitted desire by the government to make change is positive. The big concern about increasing trade is that the Cuban people will not see most of it, but the reality is that improvement is improvement. If the people have a little more money to spend and the cost of necessities such as food goes down because of trade, the actual buying power is more significantly impacted. Cubans would have more money to spend, some would have better jobs and the chance to buy land and travel and the good they need would be more readily available at better prices. I think we can use the embargo as a way to keep making progress and for each step Cuba makes, we would reduce some of the conditions. Eventually, if Cuba continues to progress with reforms, the embargo would be completely lifted. This is very similar to what has been happening with our current administration with the announcement
The 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act grants Cubans a unique place in U.S. Immigration Law and Policy by declaring that all those who arrive in the United States are accepted as political refugees, and are eligible to become legal permanent residents after one year (Marc R.). It was created to offer protection to Cubans escaping oppression from their Communist government. As might be expected, this law is always the debate of Cubans who think about coming to America seeking freedom and a better life. For many Cubans to reach American territory is all a dream, mostly because of the chances of attaining a better economic situation for themselves and their families. A lot of them also pursue to reunite with their families in the United States after many years of separation. Some others are opponents of the Castro regime. Because they don’t have freedom of speech and can see their lives threatened if they speak out against the government, seek for more political freedom and a democratic form of government, in a land of capitalism where there are fewer restrictions and more opportunities.
In his book Contesting Castro: The United States and the Triumph of the Cuban, Thomas G. Patterson explores Cuban relationships with the United States during the Batista and Castro regimes. In the 1950’s, when Fulgencio Batista was in power, the United States had an almost imperialistic dominance over Cuba. Patterson uses the word “Hegemony” to describe this dominance. He defines hegemony as “the dominance or preponderant influence that permitted U.S. decisions to condition Cuba’s politics, economy, culture, society, and military. U.S. hegemony empowered North Americans to set and maintain most of the rules by which Cubans lived and by which the Cuban – American relationship was governed” (7). At this time, the U.S. was imposing it self on Cuba without really understanding the people or the culture. The U.S. viewed Cubans as an “emotional, romantic, and childish people suffering from excessive pride” (6). There was obviously little respect for Cubans from the U.S. Moreover, Cubans felt that the strong, multifaceted U.S. influence was causing Cuba to loose its “independent identity” (8).
Long before our involvement, the Cubans had been leading revolts and revolutions against Spain. The Spanish empire considered Cuba to be its jewel, not only for its beauty but also for its economics. Cuba’s main source of income was from its expansive sugar plantations that greatly contributed to its wealth (more so to the Spanish Empires wealth). Ironically, even due to the high regard to Cuba, it was neglected and oppressed, as the Spanish Empire began its decline in the middle of the nineteenth century. The Empire was falling due to it slowly loosing its control over its territories, closer to the US then to Spain, because of a lack of industrializing. The Spanish would claim ownership, but never contribute back to their land. This opened the door for what is known as the 10-year war and the struggle for Cuban Independence. The United States never got directly involved, but it sympathized greatly with the Cuban’s cause, for ...
The U.S.’s relationship with Cuba has been arduous and stained with mutual suspicion and obstinateness, and the repeated U.S. interventions. The Platt agreement and Castro’s rise to power, served to introduce the years of difficulty to come, while, the embargo the U.S. placed on Cuba, enforced the harsh feelings. The two major events that caused the most problems were the Bays of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Platt Amendment of 1903 granted the United States certain power and control over Cuba as a condition for the removal of American troops after the Spanish-American War of 1898. It gave the United States the right to interfere in Cuba’s economic, military, and political affairs. The Platt Amendment was revoked in 1934 but only a few Cubans had forgotten about it. One could argue that the amendment was beneficial for Cuba because a school system was organized, finances were set in order, etc. but through the eyes of the Cubans, the United States presence was an assault to their sovereignty. America had long controlled the country’s economy that left an impression of United States hegemony. “Eighty percent of Cuban utilities… were owned by Americans prior to the Castro administration.” Forty percent of the sugar industry was also owned by Americans and they “accounted for the lion’s share of the sugar market”. Cuba lived by what the United States were willing to pay for the sugar. Due to the dominance and the presence of the United States within Cuba, Castro became the speaker of his fellow Cubans’ resentment toward the United States. As much as he can successfully paint the United States as the enemy of Cuba, the easier it is to explain the fact that Cuba’s economy was failing. The Bay of Pigs invasion was the perfect opportunity for Castro’s goals and its outcome exactly did that. It became the catalyst that spurred the destructive series of events. The long history between Cuba and the United States built up bitterness among the Cubans for so long and the failed operation gave them additional reasons to further despise the United States and enough reason for Castro to accept Khrushchev’s
Is the Cuban Embargo a cruel reminder of the Cold war, or is it an important factor of American Democracy fighting the spread of Communism? The Cuban Embargo was a declaration issued by American President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The embargo was issued because of the threat that the Communist government of Cuba, led by Fidel Castro in 1959, had on American security, assets and democracy at the height of the Cold War. Some 1.8 billion worth of industrial assets were lost with Cuban communist nationalization. (Mr. D’Angelo personal interview) In support, constant influence of the Soviet Union during the early 1960s, particularly the time between 1961 and 1962, led to the creation of the embargo. In addition, the Soviet Union had planned to build a missile base on the island, which drove the Cold War to its height and made nuclear destruction a real possibility. Consequently, The Embargo called for total economic sanctions for Cuba and the institution of a blockade around the island, as shown by the seven-day stand off that followed the embargo with the USSR. Unfortunately, this blockade completely restricted any trade to foreign countries and even restricted travel to and from the island. The shattering of The USSR, or Soviet Union, should have called for the end of the embargo, but instead the federal government, in 1992, further restricted the embargo with the 1992 Cuba Democracy Act and the 1996 Helms-Burton Act. The Cuban Democracy Act was a bill presented by U.S. Congressman Robert Torricelli and passed in 1992, which prohibited foreign-based subsidiaries of U.S. companies from trading with Cuba, travel to Cuba by U.S citizens, and family remittances to Cuba (Lee). Most importantly, the Helms-Burton Act extended the territoria...
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 number of anti-American developments during the height of the cold war, including the “expropriation of United States-owned properties on the island… [and] the Soviet Union [agreeing] to purchase sugar from Cuba and to supply Cuba with crude oil” (Hass 1998, 37). Bad sentiments continued to pile up as Cuba imposed restrictions on the United States Embassy and especially when, after the United States “officially broke off diplomatic ties with Cuba, and travel by United States citizens to Cuba was forbidden ... Castro openly proclaimed his revolution to be ‘socialist’” (Hass 1998, 38). The day after this, the Bay of Pigs invasion occurred, but it failed in its job to topple Castro (Hass 1998, 38). Left with no diplomatic options and a failed military attempt, the United States decided that the only way to end Castro’s socialist regime was to sever all ties, and from 1961 to 1996, a series of acts were passed prohibiting the majority of trade and interaction with Cuba. (Hass 1998, 38).
The predominant conflict between the United States and Great Britain prior to the war of 1812 was the British impressment of American sailors and merchants. At the time, Britain was at war with the First French Empire led by Napoleon Bonaparte. It was anticipated that many soldiers and sailors would desert the British Navy because of its substandard conditions. The majority of the deserting sailors joined the United States Merchant Marine; it not only had safer working conditions, but had payment of approximately four times the amount received in the British Navy. As substantial amounts of sailors abandoned the British Navy, U.S. ships were frequently stopped and searched for deserters. In this process, anyone allegedly deserting was impressed,
... the majority of which sought refuge in the United States. With the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba now stands at a crossroads. The battle cry has changed from “ Socialism or death to Resist, struggle and win” (Castro’s Cuba II). Hopefully, Castro and/or Cuba will not be forced into a market-based economy and all the materialistic commodities that go along with capitalism. In my opinion, Castro should hold out for as long as possible griping to the former battle cry “Socialism or death”. Only time will tell what the fate of Castro’s Cuba will be. Trade might once again flourish the economy, tourism might open up new economic opportunities and foreign investments from Italy, France and Spain could possibly dig Cuba out the current economic hole it’s in. Until then however, the battle against capitalism must not lose any of its vigor.
People have different reasons to start a revolution. However, the road to freedom is always full of one thing, death. The Cuban Revolution was a civil war led by rebel Fidel Castro with the goal of getting dictator Fulgencio Batista out of office. While the American Revolution also had a very strong leader in George Washington and a similar goal of attempting to gain control of the government the way they got there was very different. The Cuban and American Revolutions had many distinct characteristics that made them successful. People in the US and Cuba wanted a new system of government, but not necessarily for the same reasons. In Cuba, dictator Batista was a cruel being who was not helping the country. At the same time, Americans wanted reform so they could be a part of government. Every person in Cuba knew that Batista needed to be stopped, and eventually a rebel leader arose. Whereas, in America everyone King George needed to be stopped, but instead of just one leader, the whole nation rose to the occasion. Cuba becomes freed from the dictatorship of Batista, but instead of getting better, life in Cuba got worse. Cuba may not have been better off, but America was now thriving with their lives and government back under control. Americans and Cubans were both looking for a new government, but for contrasting reasons and with different results.
The Cuban Embargo, also known as “el bloqueo” to Cuban citizens, was declared by the United States in 1960 to eliminate imports of Cuban goods. When the embargo was first set, it was only to eliminate food and medicine, but then on Feb. 7th, 1962 the embargo was extended to all exports. President Kennedy announced the embargo citing, “the subversive offensive of Sino-Soviet communism with which the government of Cuba is publicly aligned” (Galeano). “We have a hemispheric commitment to freedom and democracy and respect for human rights”, said Jose Cardenas, a former National Security Council staffer on Cuba. With only 90 miles of sea between the U.S. and Cuba the embargo chokes off Cuba’s number one trade partner and tourism of the island.
After World War Two the United States and Soviet Union quickly became enemies due to different ideals. The Soviet Union supported communism while the United States supported capitalism and democracy. Communism was an economic system where the state owned all means of production, and goods and services were shared. Under communist rule free elections were prohibited and media was censored. The United States did not agree with this system of government. They strived for the world to have capitalist and democratic systems for government. Capitalism allowed private ownership and investment; and in a democratic state the people chose who represented them (Beck). The United States established a goal to contain communism and this policy was known as containment. Containment had specific principles including: supporting countries financially, using adroit and vigilant counter-force, and containment of Russian expansive tendencies including little communication (Kennan). The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 tested these principles. Even though the United States had a major goal of containing communism during the Cold War, the actions of U.S. president John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis differed greatly in practice from the principles of containment.
However, the US played a much larger role in Cuba’s past and present than the building of casinos and the introduction of the first taints of corruption. In the past, even before Batista, Americans were resented by Cubans because the Americans made a lot of Cuba’s decisions. Under Batista, 80% of Cuban imports came from the US, and the US controlled at least 50% of sugar, utilities, phones and railroads. If Cuba was a business in the stock markets, then the US would have been close to owning 50% of its shares. When combined with a long history of US-backed leaders, and US involvement, it is understandable that Cubans begrudged the Americans....
Right now, the people of Cuba live in a socialist society. For the past few years we have been trying to help out the Cuban people and start to get them ready for a free, independent, democratic way of life. President Clinton has done many things to promote foreign policy in Cuba. For example, he as made it easier for people to correspond between America and Cuba; and small amounts of money are allowed to be sent to Cuban families and independent organizations, even if you have no relation to anyone in Cuba. (Clinton 1999) Clinton stated, ”The United States will continue to urge the international community to do more to promote respect for human rights and democratic transition in Cuba.” (Clinton 1999) He has also suspended a provision in the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act. (Clinton 1999) This Act allows people who left Cuba, during the revolution, to file suit against Cuba, claiming the property that was confiscated by the government.
When looking back at the crisis that happened in Cuba, many things can be blamed. A stance that could be ...