It's time for the US to lift the Cuban Embargo

[elanor]

The US embargo against Cuba began over 40 years ago. President John Kennedy began it to punish Castro for allowing the USSR to store nuclear weapons on the island. As usual, the people who bear the brunt of this ban are the people with the least resources. Food and supplies are rationed, the economy is in shambles, the infrastructure is crumbling. The embargo may have made sense at the time it was instituted, but the cold war is long over. The USSR is no more. It isn't Castro who suffers as a result of this. It's the people. And it's long past time to do away with the embargo.

 

[gop_ryan]

There is a way to end the embargo, but it involves 50,000 troops. I am for continuing embargoes against nations who support terrorism and the drug trade. Cuba is a huge transshipment point for drugs entering the USA. Castro has not earned the right to be removed from that list and Cuba should stay on it until the policies are changed.

 

[elanor]

The embargo does nothing to address those issues, ryan, and it punishes the poorest people on the island by making basic commodities so scarce or obtainable at prices they can never afford. It's an unjust policy and it needs to end.

 

[gop_ryan]

We are not hurting the poor people of Cuba. The failed experiment of socialism is what hurts the people of Cuba not to mention the regime in Havana. We are just reacting to an unjust government that causes its people more harm then good.

 

[The Pinata]

We are not hurting the poor people of Cuba. The failed experiment of socialism is what hurts the people of Cuba not to mention the regime in Havana. We are just reacting to an unjust government that causes its people more harm then good.

Cuba was never socialist GOP_Ryan. In fact, they were a totalitarian dictatorship under the name of Communism in the same sense as the Soviet Union under Stalin or many of their other leaders.

By denying Cuba the right to trade with their closest neighbors, we are in fact continuing to cripple their economy. There is no available proof that Cuba supports terrorism, and the drug trade is beyond the control of a government whose real control and effectiveness is marginal at best.

We are reacting to an unjust government which does cause its people a good deal of harm. However, our current embargo of Cuba only increases this suffering at the lowest levels of Cuban society, that been the laborers who are forced to suffer through their lives because they were born into a country that fell into shambles due to a tyrannical government.

Cuba is in no way socialist or even communist. It is a totalitarian dictatorship, akin to the Soviet Union or Iraq.

 

[gop_ryan]

I agree that the people of Cuba are the ones getting the bad end of this deal, but its a direct result of the actions of their government. I personally say that we take all the Cuban-Americans in Florida and train them to take their nation back and this time we will back them up because there is going to be no change until Castro and the government is gone. Now I am for that more than sanctioning Cuba.

 

[The Pinata]

I agree that the people of Cuba are the ones getting the bad end of this deal, but its a direct result of the actions of their government. I personally say that we take all the Cuban-Americans in Florida and train them to take their nation back and this time we will back them up because there is going to be no change until Castro and the government is gone. Now I am for that more than sanctioning Cuba.

You are saying you are for forcing civilians who are refugees of a totalitarian country to train and fight against their former country is in any sense an intelligent strategy? All you would effectively do is to tear apart the Cuban minority vote for whichever politically party supported that, and end up getting a lot of Cubans killed. Any military invasion of Cuba will have to be carried out by American forces, and it would be near to impossible to find any global support in such an operation.

I realise that the reason the Cubans are getting the bad end of the deal is due to the totalitarian nature of their government. That does not change the fact that the embargo continues to cripple their economy, which would at least be livable if it were not for the embargo. While I do agree that Castro is a terrible man, I feel that the best solution is to let him die out and pressure the next leader. Beyond that, I am an advocate of removing the embargo, because as has been evidenced since the days of JFK, it has had no effect on causing Castro to lessen his tyrannical grip on the country. Despite the fact that it has been in place for decades, it has had no effect other than crippling an already weak economy, and barring any progress in diplomatic relations between both countries.

 

[elanor]

Regarding invading Cuba:

1. That would validate exactly what Castro has been telling the Cuban people all along. His line is that American wants to invade and control Cuba. And,
2. What business have we deciding what government Cuba should have? We may not like Castro (and I don't), but Cuba is a sovereign nation, and they have the right to determine their own destiny.

Continuing this embargo is overly punitive. The reason for its implementation has not existed for years.

 

[Real Corona]

Yes we should have normalized relations with Cuba right here right now. It makes absolutly no sense why we don't.


We have relations with Vietnam and China, communist.

 

[Key Peninsula Redneck]

If Fidel Castro really cared about his people, he would step down.

Anyone remember what happened when with the oil-for-food happened in Iraq?

 

[The Pinata]

If Fidel Castro really cared about his people, he would step down.

Anyone remember what happened when with the oil-for-food happened in Iraq?

We all know that Fidel Castro doesn't care about his people. There are few people in these forums who would suggest otherwise, and even fewer Cubans who'd believe that he actually was concerned for the vast majority of his subjects.

However, we are not suggesting running a food-for-oil program like in Iraq. In fact, we are one of the few countries worldwide who maintains an embargo on Cuba, and because of our proximity and size, we would otherwise be their largest trade partners, as we used to be.

The issue is that the embargo is not hurting Fidel Castro, but instead only hurting the lowest class there, because the economy is in such a shattered status. The embargo has not changed a single fact since its initiation, and despite its intentions has proven a failure, because it has not pressured Castro to support us.

All it has done is kept the Cuban working class in a perpetual state of poverty and misery, as well as crippling all diplomatic relations between the two countries. Furthermore, it has removed a source of goods from the United States market, thus hindering free or fair trade. None of these things are good for America, and there is no practical reason for maintaining the embargo.

 

[oldrooster]

The embargo should have been lifted years ago, it is wrong. Castro has done much in Cuba, not all it could be, but better than it was.....

 

[BobbieDog]

I believe that Castro cares for his people, and his country.
He may, or may not be right, in how he practices that care: and he will be no more a saint or angel, than the rest of us; but i do believe he is a devout Cuban patriot.
Cuba has suffered from having the strength to stand up to the USA, while not having the power to countervail US efforts to bring it to its knees.
We have a Cuban stand off, within a US project of determination to dominate the backyard: and the US mission of using projected ecenomic and military power, to achieve a global hegemony, across a full spectrum of dominance.
Had Cuba had the fortune to have had a good neighbour in the USA, then there is little doubt that she would have prospered, under Castro or otherwise.
Those who now demonise Castro, are perhaps too young to remember when he was a leading figure in the non-aligned movement: an authority and pioneer in advancing the interests of the third world.
That Castro has survived the loss of the USSR, and without the brutal secret police apparatus of say Iraq, has to be some sort of modern miracle.
Yes Cuba may be in dire straits ecenomically, although I have heard debate even about that: but to characterise it as some current threat; and Castro as some ruthless, iron dictator, like Stalin for instance, is just to drift off into the fanciful.
It's disconcerting to eavesdrop on a national culture, whose solution to everyhting, seems to involve troops invading sovriegn territories.

 

[intrepid]

The US embargo against Cuba began over 40 years ago. President John Kennedy began it to punish Castro for allowing the USSR to store nuclear weapons on the island. As usual, the people who bear the brunt of this ban are the people with the least resources. Food and supplies are rationed, the economy is in shambles, the infrastructure is crumbling. The embargo may have made sense at the time it was instituted, but the cold war is long over. The USSR is no more. It isn't Castro who suffers as a result of this. It's the people. And it's long past time to do away with the embargo.

Every year we send a "rent" check to Fidel for our lease at Gitmo, and every year he doesn't cash it (wish he'd endorse it over to me...)

Were there no sanctions, would Fidel allow interaction with the Imperialist Yankee Dogs?

 

[burrow_owl]

Feh. The fast food and shiny things that capitalism delivers brought down the Soviet bloc - it can certainly do the same for Cuba.

 

[intrepid]

Feh. The fast food and shiny things that capitalism delivers brought down the Soviet bloc - it can certainly do the same for Cuba.

Great point - that's what happens when you Super Size.

 

[Individual-KesTrel]

Uhh great, the cubans are going to sue us for making them obese.

Invasion and Violent means is not the responce. If the cuban people need something the only ways is non violent resistance. A cuban army is not going to slaughter the entire cuban population for resisting.

I think its a real shame, cuba is an an excellent location for a place where you could have such a nice island nation. Given, the hurricanes must be bad, but its almost tropical seems like a great place. I am going to vote to not have an embargo still after reading this thread.

 

[Glaz]

I see no reason to maintain an embargo other than to spite Castro, which is a poor reason. We went to war with Vietnam because of communism, and now we have opened up to them the last several years for trade. If we can do that with them, seems obvious we should do it with a country in our own backyard.

 

[Real Corona]

The only reason that the embargo still exists is because Politicians don't want to lose the Cuban vote in Florida. The thing is that all the Cubans in Florida are the ones Castro wanted to get rid of, criminals, political opponents etc. So of course they all hate him.

It's sad that most people would enjoy going back to the days of Batista where the Cuban people were serfs to American corporations. No Cubans have health care and other services. Not only that, they do it without US support.

I consider Castro someone to look at and admire for what he's done.

The same thing happened mind you, in Nicaragua. The people were sick of being enslaved by the corporations so they revolted and overthrew the government. Reagan didn't like the idea of Americans losing money so he sold weapons to Iran in order to help oppress the Nicaraguans.

Invading Cuba would easily be the worst thing that this country could do. If we invaded Cuba we would be no better than Imperial Germany or Imperial Britian.

 

[Bible Addict]

Every year we send a "rent" check to Fidel for our lease at Gitmo, and every year he doesn't cash it (wish he'd endorse it over to me...)

Were there no sanctions, would Fidel allow interaction with the Imperialist Yankee Dogs?

Continuing the embargo does nothing for any cause other than to harm people who already have very sad, poor and hard lives.

Intrepid, I think he would (not that I'm calling you imperialist yankee dogs BTW ) Castro lets Americans into Cuba, yes maybe it's because when the illegal ones come he likes to see people ignoring American law, but I think it's also for the tourist money that Cuba gets from them as they laso enjoy from citizens of other countries where there is no ban on them travelling to Cuba.

He's probably just holding off on cashing the cheques to spite the USA, not that it does -- but it's probably one of those "bite off your nose to spite your face" kind of scenarios, he's hurting himself in the end, but he probably feels it's better than giving the US the satisfaction of knowing that he gets money from them.