Why Do We Still Have an Embargo of Cuba?
Summary 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.
One year and a half after Castro’s forces took power in Cuba, President Eisenhower first imposed an embargo on Cuba, with the exception of food and medicine. In 1962, President Kennedy tightened the embargo and U.S. products to Cuba from third party countries via the Trading with the Enemy Act. One year later, Kennedy bans travel, a restriction that has existed ever since. President Ford’s Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is the first to mention that the isolation of Cuba is actually isolating the United States.
Up until the Carter Administration, policy on Cuba was driven by presidential advisors. Starting with Carter, the growing Cuban-American political clout forces the issues to be discussed by the politicians and candidates. Most of these Cuban-Americans are Republicans, as they blame Kennedy for the failed Bay of Pigs operation in 1961, which intended to overthrow the Castro regime.
With the end of the Cold War, the original reasons for the embargo have all gone away. However, with the influence of interest groups like the Cuban American National Foundation and PACs like the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, the subject has become an important one when elections are approaching.
Analysis
The package of policies that has made up the United States’ embargo of Cuba has been in place for over fifty years and spanned eleven of our forty-four
One year and a half after Castro’s forces took power in Cuba, President Eisenhower first imposed an embargo on Cuba, with the exception of food and medicine. In 1962, President Kennedy tightened the embargo and U.S. products to Cuba from third party countries via the Trading with the Enemy Act. One year later, Kennedy bans travel, a restriction that has existed ever since. President Ford’s Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is the first to mention that the isolation of Cuba is actually isolating the United States.
Up until the Carter Administration, policy on Cuba was driven by presidential advisors. Starting with Carter, the growing Cuban-American political clout forces the issues to be discussed by the politicians and candidates. Most of these Cuban-Americans are Republicans, as they blame Kennedy for the failed Bay of Pigs operation in 1961, which intended to overthrow the Castro regime.
With the end of the Cold War, the original reasons for the embargo have all gone away. However, with the influence of interest groups like the Cuban American National Foundation and PACs like the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, the subject has become an important one when elections are approaching.
Analysis
The package of policies that has made up the United States’ embargo of Cuba has been in place for over fifty years and spanned eleven of our forty-four
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