About the Embargo
"The Cuban Assets Control Regulations were issued by the U.S. Government on 8 July 1963 under the Trading With the Enemy Act in response to certain hostile actions by the Cuban government. They are still in force today and affect all U.S. citizens and permanent residents wherever they are located, all people and organizations physically in the United States, and all branches and subsidiaries of U.S. organizations throughout the world...The basic goal of the sanctions is to isolate the Cuban government economically and deprive it of U.S. dollars...Criminal penalties for violating the sanctions range up to 10 years in prison, $1,000,000 in corporate fines and $250,000 in individual fines."
Cuba has been under siege by the United States government for 45 years. Through ten presidential administrations the policy of punishment, containment and isolation has been continual, though the tactics have varied from military (Bay of Pigs Invasion 1961), to clandestine (such as attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro, military and financial support for dissidents), to political (including support of anti-Castro Cuban-American organizations, anti-Castro radio and TV broadcasts from Miami to Cuba.)
However, the economic embargo - or bloqueo as it is known in Cuba - first instituted in 1960 and revised through the decades according to shifting political winds, has been the most consistent and inhumane policy, overwhelmingly condemned by the international community. Many politicians on both sides of the aisle now agree that the embargo has only strengthened internal support for the Cuban government while it has placed immense hardships on the lives of generations of children and families.
"Economic embargoes.... are always deplorable because they hurt the most needy."
The embargo was first imposed in 1960 at the height of the Cold War after the new Cuban government expropriated US corporate assets and established close ties with the Soviet Union. Cuban support for anti-colonial and revolutionary struggles around the world during the ensuing decades reinforced the influence of anti-Castro forces in Washington, but the embargo has endured largely due to political pressure from first-generation Cuban exiles in Florida, a key electoral state.
During the past decade some members of the younger generation of Cuban-Americans and more recent economic immigrants less hostile to the Cuban government have called for a policy of engagement. Under the Clinton Administration restrictions were eased to allow US businesses to export food and medicines to Cuba; from 2000 to 2004, 150 US businesses from 37 states traded $1.2 billion with the island.
The Bush Administration imposed tough new restrictions in 2004 on trade, on travel by Cuban-Americans to the island and on the delivery of remittances to family members, leading more Cubans in Florida to question the validity of the entire policy of isolation. Together with US business and agricultural interests and some elected officials representing agricultural states a new coalition is forming that could eventually effect a change in policy.
In 2004 the UN General Assembly once again condemned the embargo 179-4, and several pieces of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives to ease sanctions nearly succeeded.
By 2005, however, a new Cuban-American lobby group (Cuba Democracy PAC) was formed and successfully convinced 33 House members previously considered supporters of easing restrictions to vote against these efforts. According to the Latin America Working Group, these members received contributions of $1000 - $5000 each from the PAC. Several bills introduced in June were thus defeated including one to allow toothpaste and soap in gift parcels to family members. An amendment to end the embargo was also defeated, 250-169.
While Cuban-American legislators still vehemently oppose easing sanctions, the continuation of the Cold War-era policy "just doesn't make sense," according to the president of the U.S. Rice Producers Association. Other agribusiness giants such as Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland hope to increase trade with Cuba and may, in the end, be the most effective lobbyists for change.
Thirty years ago, Senator Ted Kennedy called for an end to the embargo: "I believe the idea of isolating Cuba was a mistake...It has been ineffective. Whatever the reasons and justifications may have been at the time, now they are invalid."
Timeline of US-Cuba Relations and the Embargo
| 1880's | Cuba continues as colony of Spain but its dominant economic partner is the US. |
| 1895 | Rebellion against Spain led by Jose Marti; US remains "neutral." |
| 1898 | Spain grants limited autonomy to Cuba; US declares war with Spain on April 25 after mysterious explosion destroys USS Maine in Havana Harbor, killing 229 US sailors. |
| 1898 | US defeats Spain after ceasefire declared August 12 and installs military government; independence declared December 10 but US military retains control until 1902. |
| 1902 | Cuba granted independence but Platt Amendment establishes protectorate and gives US the right to intervene at any time. |
| 1903 | US granted permanent lease to Guantanamo as naval base. |
| 1906-09 | US reoccupies Cuba following a rebellion. |
| 1909 | US-supervised elections. |
| 1912 | US forces return to Cuba to suppress Afro-Cuban protests against discrimination. |
| 1933 | Military coup d'etat overthrows liberal government and installs Sergeant Fulgencia Batista, who remains in power until 1959 revolution. |
| 1934 | Change in US policy in the midst of the Depression, under President Roosevelt; Good Neighbor Policy repeals Platt Amendment; right to intervene rescinded; sugar tariffs revised to favor Cuba. |
| 1953 | Fidel Castro leads first revolt; is captured and jailed until 1955. Declares, "History will absolve me." |
| 1956 | Castro, Che Guevara and others land in Cuba and lead rebellion from the Sierra Maestra. |
| 1958 | US withdraws military aid to Batista government; New Year's Eve Castro and 9000 guerrillas march in to Havana; Batista flees the country. |
| 1959 | US recognizes new government; Castro has unofficial meeting with Nixon. |
| 1960 | Cuban government nationalizes US corporate interests; US breaks diplomatic relations and establishes partial trade embargo. |
| 1961 | Bay of Pigs invasion by 1500 CIA-trained -and-led-Cuban exiles is a debacle after only three days; Castro turns to Soviet Union for support; full trade embargo imposed. |
| 1961-63 | "Operation Mongoose" designed to assassinate Castro; at least five attempts fail. |
| 1962 | Cuban Missile Crisis; fearing a US invasion, Castro allows the USSR to deploy nuclear missiles on the island; nuclear war averted with negotiations; USSR removes missiles from Cuba and US removes its nuclear missiles from Turkey. |
| 1963 | Embargo is tightened; most travel by US citizens is banned; a month after President Kennedy is assassinated, Attorney General Robert Kennedy calls for an end to the travel ban as "inconsistent with traditional American liberties." |
| 1975 | US allows US foreign subsidiaries to trade with Cuba. |
| 1976 | Cuban airliner blown up in Venezuela allegedly by ex-CIA employee Luis Posada Carriles. |
| 1980 | Mariel Boatlift: 125,000 Cubans allowed to leave Cuba and emigrate to US. |
| 1983 | US invasion of Grenada; 24 Cubans killed, 700 captured. |
| 1985 | US initiates "Radio Marti" broadcasts to Cuba. |
| 1990 | US initiates "TV Marti" broadcasts. |
| 1991 | "Special Period" in Cuba as USSR dissolved and aid ends; Cuba introduces market reforms and US tightens embargo. |
| 1992 | Embargo tightened again as part of "Cuba Democracy Act" which prohibits transactions between US foreign subsidiaries and Cuba. |
| 1994 | US-Cuba agreement allows 20,000 legal emigres per year. |
| 1996 | Two Miami-based Cuban exile-piloted planes shot down in or near Cuban waters; embargo made permanent with the Helms-Burton Act which also allows US citizens to sue foreign investors profiting from expropriated US assets in Cuba. |
| 1997 | President Clinton suspends enforcement of Helms-Burton; permits some US news organizations to open offices in Cuba, including CNN. |
| 1998 | US eases restrictions on remittances from Cuban-Americans to their families on the island.
Pope John Paul visits Cuba, condemns embargo and calls for political reforms. |
| 1999-2000 | Elian Gonzalez campaign divides Cuban-American community and erodes support for embargo. |
| 2000 | In October, House of Representatives opens the export market to Cuba by approving sales of food and medicines; from 2000-2004, 150 US businesses from 37 states trade with Cuba, over $1.2 billion |
| 2001 | In November, US exports food to Cuba for the first time, following Hurricane Michelle. |
| 2002 | First US prisoners from Afghanistan arrive in Guantanamo in January.
US Under-Secretary of State John Bolton accuses Cuba of developing biological weapons and adds the island to his "axis of evil" list. Former president Jimmy Carter visits Cuba including scientific centers and rebuts charges made by Bolton; Carter is the first US president or former president to visit since 1959. In September, US Embassy steps up activities to support Cuban dissidents. |
| 2003 | In October, President Bush announces new restrictions on travel and remittances.
Representatives of 250 US agribusinesses travel to Cuba for sales talks. |
| 2004 |
Cuba is now 25th of 228 trading partners in importance of agricultural exports; 38 states have signed agreements to export to Cuba.
Legislative bills aimed at easing restrictions nearly succeed. Travel restrictions implemented in June impact Cuban-American families, now prohibited from visiting relatives on the island more than once every 3 years, and then, only parents, grandparents and children. New rules also prohibit legal remittances from Cubans in the US to their families. October 28: For the 13th straight year the United Nations overwhelmingly calls for an end to the embargo - 179-4. |
| 2005 | Many elected representatives (including Republicans), farmers and businesspeople from Midwestern and Southern states lobby for an end to trade restrictions.
In July, Hurricane Dennis batters Cuba, damaging agriculture and some 150,000 homes. Fidel Castro celebrates his 79th birthday. June 30: House defeats efforts to ease sanctions including bill to allow toothpaste and soap in gift parcels to families on the island. New "Cuba Democracy PAC" credited with changing votes of 33 House members who supported last year's legislative efforts. According to the Latin America Working Group, these representatives received contributions of $1-5,000 from the PAC. Senator Charles Rangel's (D-NY) End the Embargo amendment is defeated 169-250. |
updated October 2005