Five Decades Of Failure

For almost half a century, the U.S. government has tried to isolate Cuba economically, attempting to undermine its government by depriving it of resources. Since 1960, Americans have been barred from trad- ing with, investing in, or traveling to Cuba. The embargo had a national security rationale before 1991, when Castro served as the Soviet Union’s proxy in the Western Hemisphere. Yet it continues twenty years after the collapse of the USSR. Today, more than a decade after losing billions in annual economic aid from its former sponsor, Cuba is only a poor and dysfunctional nation of 11 million that poses no threat to American or regional security.Nevertheless, the sanctions and travel bans remain.I do not support the Castro regime. The fact that there is no room for free elections of organized protesting defines it as being a tyrannical government. It jails, tortures and kills political opponents in a fashion similar to the North Korean government.So why did we put the ban in the first place? It was for these reasons, because the Castro regime opposed the liberties that we held dear to ourselves and because of the civil atrocities inflicted upon the Cuban people. As a direct result, the Cuban embargo was put in place in hopes of finding a better future for the Cuban people.In this aspect, the economic embargo has met complete failure. It has deprived the Cubans of lower-cost food and other goods that could be bought from the United States and has completely shut down the huge potential for tourism on the tropical beaches of Cuba. In any case, the embargo has given more power to the Castro regime, inciting hatred within the Cuban people for the great nation 90 miles north that refuses to sell them bags of rice. The regime has not been toppled and has received growing support as it uses the United States as a scapegoat for poverty and bad living conditions instead of its failed Communist models.Castro himself in 2002 stated at a rally in Havana: "We are men of ideas, not fanatics. We have never sowed hatred against the people of the United States despite the aggressions of her government against us. Apart from the moral and political damage that this does, what hurts us the most is the idea that one single American citizen could think that from Cuban territory any harm would be waged against them. Not a single drop of blood has ever fallen anywhere in the world because of any terrorist act introduced from our country. If it weren't for that absurd and ridiculous embargo, our citizens would be able to receive advanced medication and vaccines to save the lives of our people."However, Cubans are not the only victims of the embargo. After a small opening of the embargo in 2000, the total sales of farm products have risen from nothing to 380 million dollars. The American Farm Bureau sees the potential for a billion-dollar export market to be opened, but that potential cannot be achieved until the embargo is dropped. The United States government should use every potential economic benefit in these burgeoning times.So why does the embargo still exist? The Cold War is over, the Soviet Union dissolved, and now the United States sustains the largest trade deficit in the history of the world with the People’s Republic of China. Yet the embargo and enmity towards Cuba continue. It is long past time for the United States to turn to a policy that will engage Cuba and produce benefits rather than isolate itself.