Why is there still an embargo against Cuba.
So this is coming from an Englishman so I may be missing some context an American might know. I have recently booked a holiday to Cuba and it got me thinking about why USA still has an embargo against Cuba when they deal with much worse countries than Cuba.
In: Economics
Because they’re not as powerful as e.g. China, so even a trade war is not viable. Just outright embargo for convenient political reasons and keep it that way. First to propose otherwise is committing political suicide and gets cold war treatment.
On the surface though? Because Cuba = bad. They are dealing with other countries that = bad. Small bad wolf.
Check out the podcast BlowBack – Season 2 is all about the history between the US and Cuba. It is really informative and they do their very best to stay as objective as (in their own words) two white boys from New York can.
Here is the link to the show on Apple podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blowback/id1502178774?i=1000517692793
It started because the US was upset about losing Cuba as essentially a colony. It continues because Cubans are a huge voting bloc in Florida and ending it would kill the reelection chances of anyone who voted for it.
Most folks here are giving reasons why the embargo was placed in the first place. It’s not worked. The reason it’s still in place is the electoral college. Florida is a swing state. A presidential candidate telling a large number of Cuban exiles in Miami-Dade county that they will lift the embargo is not a recipe for electoral success.
Keep in mind that after a trip to Cuba you are no longer eligible for ESTA if you want to travel to the USA. You will have to apply for a visa.
I was in Cuba this year and unfortunately only found this out afterwards. The info can be found on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website.
The U.S has a pattern of setting illegal embargos and blockades (according to international law) to any resource rich country that wants to nationalize their production rather than sell to the U.S (ie: Venezuela)
Before, countries like Venezuela and Cuba served as slave states for the US which starved the poor population and funneled money straight to the top,(think Ponzi scheme). As well as forcing them to rely on a single resource and ultimately giving them Dutch Disease.
Once Cuba wanted to nationalize their sugar to ensure the money went to the poor citizens, they got embargoed, same with Venezuela and oil.
A lot of people have a lot of opinions on this, but if you want the “official” answer, Cuba tried to force American owned oil refineries to buy Soviet crude. When they refused and bought American instead, they were nationalized. The US government embargoed them until the property was returned.
It hasn’t been returned.
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