Why exactly does the US still have an embargo against Cuba, don we trade with Communist China?
Because the Cuban exile community insists on it, and they have a good deal of power in Florida, which is a very important state politically. Its my long-standing impression that a good chunk of the exile community doesn’t really care whether Cuba is a free country (it was a wildly capitalistic dictatorship before Castro), they’re just upset that they lost their property. Hence, the embargo keeps the US from getting any benefit from what was taken from them. What they don’t realize is that a good part of the collapse of communism was due to people in the former communist getting a taste of how well Americans live, which is exactly what the embargo keeps from happening.
I personally think it is counter productive our embargo gives legitimacy to the goverment of Cuba because they can point to the US and say America wants you to suffer but we will protect you. The United States should trade with Cuba, but it should do so in a way that bolsters the middle class and not the goverment. When a nation has a strong middle class they began to have a vested interest in democracy and civil liberties to protect what they have. —— but to answer your question the reason why is the strong Cuban voter block, as many have pointed out. They hate the Cuban goverment so much they are willing to do anything to make it suffer, even if it makes the lives of other Cubans worse.
Good question. There are three reasons. a) The right-wing has a virtually religious belief that “the embargo is weakening the Castro regime and eventually the Cuban people will rebel.” Despite the fact that there is absolutely no evidence to support the idea that that will happen and the embargo has failed to hurt Cuba’s economy for the 45 years it’s been in place. b) Thee has been (and to some extent still is) a block of Cuban -Americans who support theGOP in exchange for maintaining the embargo–especially with campaign contributions. These are the former members of the Batista dictatorship who fled Cuba–and their descendants. They, like the right-wing, maintain the fantasy that they can return to power in Cuba oe day. c) The real driiving force is, of course, money. In this case, this is how it plays out: Cuba is the world’s largest sugar producer. But they don’t have access to the largest market–the United States. Theefore the American sugar cartel is able to keep prices artifici
A very complex question that boils down to a “potential threat” existing just ninety miles off the coast of Florida. The reality is that since the 1970’s, Cuba’s people have been unduly suffering from extreme levels of poverty as compared to Western industrialized nations. We should have lifted the embargo thirty years ago for humanitarian reasons as Cuba no longer poses any type of threat to the United States or anyone else. China is a huge trading partner and a very powerful economic power; too powerful to ignore. It’s another example of uneven practices in the international community.
