Patrick Meyers P.S. 472 12/4/96 United States vs. Cuba (or better yet, vs. Castro) Before 1959 Cuba was one of the most economically stable nation in the world. It had some of the most competitive work wages and a comparable standard of living as an other developed nation at this time. This however came to a drastic end when in 1959 the Castro regime took control of the government. Castro was quick to install his policy of communism and began to move toward a totalitarian form of government. This has led Cuba into a time of great economic and social hardship for the Cuban people. At the time Castro assumed power the Cuban peso was equal to the United States dollar however today it is only worth $.o25 United States dollars. Since the begin of his regime there has also been great deal of human rights violations as well as international law violations including drug trafficking on a large scale. This new Castro regime was dealt a severe penalties for the acts that were committed in the form of the Trading With the Enemy Act of 1961. This act not only ended diplomatic ties with Cuba but it also slapped it with severe economic sanctions. This Act denied the Cubans access to the United States market as well as United States dollars. In addition the Act would not allow for United States companies to conduct business with the Cuban nation. This Trading with the Enemy Act was in response to more than just the new communist controlled Castro regime. First it was in response to the seizure of American owned property located within the Cuban boundaries. These seizures included not only land but also banks, farms, companies as well as other American assets. The seizure totaled over 1.5 billion dollars in total. The seized property was then divided by Castro to who he felt was deserving (friends of the upper class). Also, the Trading With the Enemy Act was in response to one of Castro's most controversial policies in the international community. This policy was to aid revolutionary movements around the world. This took place largely in Central and South America but also took place elsewhere around the world. This aid was in the form of financial as well as in the form of military assistance. This aid went even as far as to send Cuban advisors to aid in these revolutionary movements. This has led Cuba to be very isolated from the rest of the world outside the USSR, the Western Bloc, and this revolutionary groups. Over the past fifty years the United States presidents have been heavily involved in the United States Cuban/Castro relations. Some of the most explosive moments occurred under the Kennedy administration. The first was a pure attempt at coercion by the use of military. The instance was the Bay of Pigs invasion were Cubans with the support of the United States attempted to invade and over throw the Castro regime. the idea was that once the landing took place the rest of the Cubans in Cuba would join in the over throw. This however failed and was a scar on the Kennedy administration which was only countered by the Cuban Missile Crisis in which the objectives of the United States was met after the closest the United States has been to nuclear war . During the Nixon administration the policy Nixon adopted was to encourage business with Cuba as a form of persuasion. Nixon tries to persuade Castro into negotiations by showing what benefits could be achieved by Cuba if the United States did not have trade sanctions against them. This policy however failed and ended when Ford broke off negotiations with Cuba. Ford chose this path as a direct result of Castro's sending of 40,000 troops to Angola to aid in revolutionary movement taking place there. In the eighties under Reagan's administration the stance on Cuba remained not only firm but was strengthened. Reagan saw Cuba and Castro in the same light that had been seen by his predecessors and continued the policy of the embargo. Then following Reagans term of office Bush increased the pressure of the embargo by signing into law the Cuban Democracy Act with strong bipartisan support. The Cuban Democracy Act had several provisions that were added to the previous sanctions. One of these was a order that any ship that had docked in Cuba in the past six months would not be allowed to dock any United States ports. This is way in which the United States attempted not only to coerce Cuba to changing its policies but to use coercion to get other countries to stop dealing with Cuba. Also a provision of the Act was to allow medical and humanitarian aid to Cuba to help reduce the pressure on the poor of Cuba. Another provision that came along with came in the form of an executive order given by President Clinton. The order was to open up travel and communication with Cuba. This was done in the hopes that this increased communication could help spur movements to end the Castro regime for the hope of a better way of life the Cubans were now seeing and hearing about. This can be used almost in a propagandistic way of what life outside Cuba is like and how life could be if change could take place. In this Act something new was done in the way the Act used persuasion. The Act contained provisions were if one aspect of the demands of the United States were met then the there would be a change in the level of the sanctions placed on them. The hands of the United States were tied in a sense of what they could do unless Castro was willing to compromise. This however was once again unsuccessful and led to new measures. The most important and well known of the new measure that the United States has adopted is the Helms-Burton Act. The following are the some of the key provisions laid out in the Helms-Burton Act: 1) Assists Cubans in regaining freedom and prosperity and join the world community. 2) Strengthen the sanctions (tighten the sanctions). 3) Provide for national security a. Protect against Cuban terrorism b. Stop to seizure of American Property 4) Push for free elections under supervision by international community 5) Set out the guidelines for transition out of Castro regime 6) Stop illegal sales of United States property confiscated by Castro In short these layout a guidelines in which the Cubans can end the embargo on them. The Helms-Burton Act also lays out why these actions are being taken to strengthen the embargo and why it should accomplish its goals and why change is necessary. 1)With the end of the USSR and Western Bloc economic support the Cuban economy has shrunk by 60% over the last 5 years alone. 2) The 47 years of communism has hurt the Cubans and has not accomplished the goals of communism. 3) The welfare of the Cubans has fallen dramatically over this time. 4) Castro has not shown any sign of change since taking power (not free market changes or even human rights changes). 5) If situation does not change there is little hope for a better life of the people. 6) The totalitarian form of regime of Castro has led to death as people take huge risks to escape. 7) The United States policy has always been to help the Cubans, not Castro. 8) Castro's regime has routinely harbor the fugitives and participated in drug trafficking. 9) Castro has aided in many revolutionary movements around the globe The Helms-Burton Act also lays out some "feelings" of what is occurring. 1) Castro's human rights violations threatens international peace. 2) This Act should not only be adopted by the United States but also by the United Nations. 3) Any further offensive acts will be considered an act of aggression against the United States and includes: a. placement of nuclear weapons in Cuba. b. mass waves of refugees sent out to crowd American resources The above is what the basic policy is of the United States at present in regards to Cuba. Since the USSR has broken up the situation has become much more unitary between the United States and Cuba. Without the USSR support the Castro regime has lost a huge proportion of its backing in the world community. Castro must deal with its problems itself and can no longer look to the USSR for aid in a time of need. This has isolated itself from the rest of the world has hit the regime very hard. With the advent of the Helms-Burton Act the situation is beginning to take on a new picture. There has been great support in the United States for this Act by both parties and the President alike. The American public also has lent its support for the most part to the embargo. However, most of the support for the embargo has mostly been confined to the United States. Several United Nations resolutions has asked for the United States to lift the embargo it has placed on Cuba. Many nations have strongly pressed the point of lifting the embargo on Cuba. This in part may help the United States achieve its desired goals has it has shown that the United States has the resolve to stand behind what it says and has not wavered in its stance. To understand what is happening one must know what the policy of the United States is denying to the Cubans. In short they have closed the entire economy of Cuba into its own borders making it very difficult to survive economically. This is were the idea of strategy and coercion comes into play. The idea of denying markets to Cuba is way the United States is trying to coerce Castro into change and what are these changes. First Castro must stop the human rights violations that are occurring. These include the killing of political opponents, torture and other cruel forms of punishment that has been administered by the Castro regime. There needs to be a lifting of restrictions on the freedom of speech, religion, and assembly. These are only a sampling of the human rights violations that have been being committed on the Cubans under Castro's regime. The economic abuses must also come to an end. The seizure of American property must not only stop but must be returned to its rightful owners. Also the use of drug trafficking must end if the Castro regime ever want s to become a member of the worlds economic community. The last step that must be taken is an end to communism. This is one of the major factors that is displayed as a reason for the problems in Cuba. The way the United States wants this remedied is through the free election of a government by the people. This can only happen if the Castro regime is willing to step down but the likely hood of that is rare. There also exists a legal question that must be raised. The embargo legal and in particular is the Helms-Burton Act legal. As it is it may violate some trade agreements that the United States has formed including agreements with our neighbors to the north. Canada has long opposed these embargo and feels that they are violating NAFTA as well as other trade agreements between the United States and Canada. This has recently been taken to new levels as it my even interfere with international law. The question being asked by the international community is why must they listen to the United States on policies as they relate to Cuba. These other nations feel that the restrictions placed on them by the United States does not allow them to determine their own policies. This is one reason now that the United Nations is beginning to form resolutions against the actions and embargo by the United States. But is this practice by the United States really illegal. They are not forcing other nations to listen to them. They are only using persuasion. If a nation wants to trade with Cuba they may but they may not have the same access to the much highly coveted United States markets. It is up to each state to choose who to trade with and what may happen if they do not follow the guidelines of what the United States expects from its trade partners. Now the question is finally raised. Why does or doesn't the United States end the embargo on Cuba? There is support for and against the embargo so which is the best policy. Support for the embargo has been relatively constant in the United States since it began and has even been recently strengthened with new legislation. However, support around the world has been falling. Beyond the United Nations resolutions other world organizations have protested the sanctions including the European Union and the Organization of American States have dropped all its sanctions against Cuba. Also support has fallen due to the huge market that can be opened up. Many countries are looking to take advantage of these opportunities to improve their own economy. Some feelings have also been expressed that the United States has given other nations trade freedom even though they have done many of the same things Cuba has done such as human rights violations as well has having a unfavorable political structure. The most namely, China, has even been extended a treasured economic prize of most favored trade status. One must now look to the rationality of the two players involved, Castro and the United States Government. One must look to see if the characters are acting rationally if one hopes to be able to understand what they are doing and how policies will effect the person. If a person is not acting rationally then one cannot know how the actor will respond. Also one cannot act rationally if they are only left with one option. I believe that Castro began acting rationally but know is leaning more and more to be acting irrationally. When Castro first assumed power and began his rule under the embargo he was acting very rational in not giving into the demands of the US. He had little to fear as he was under the cloak of the USSR and the Western Bloc who were able to aid him both militarily and economically as well as giving him the protection awarded to other Soviet satellites. His economy did not flourish or grow well but it was sustained none the less under the grips of the embargo. Thus the embargo was not hurting him in great respects other than slowing the modernization of his country. This continued for the next decades until in 1992 when the Soviets (now Russia) ended the aid that had been the staple of the Cuban economy for so long. This is when the rationality of Castro comes into play. Cuba has lost a huge portion of its economy and now with the pressure of the Cuban Democracy Act and the Helms-Burton Act the hopes for economic improvement is weaving and what can be gained without change is small. Is it rational to think that the economy can survive or maybe is Castro waiting out as long as he can or maybe he will die before the situation comes to a head. If Castro is acting the way he is because he waiting until the end of his life or the Cuban economy one cannot say he is rational but is there another motivation that shows he is acting rationally. One argument in favor of this is the fact that other nations are beginning to trade with Cuba against the wishes of the US. Maybe Castro sees a glimmer of hope in this and is willing to wait and see but how long will it take even if it does succeed and how much worse must it get for the Cuban population. Now let us turn our focus to the rationality of the Unites States policy in regards to Cuba. Many people feel that the US is not acting rationally in regards to Cuba. As shown above world support for the sanctions are turning in favor of lifting the embargo including the European Union, the Organization of American States as well as Canada. These groups no longer feel that there is a place for the embargo and it is now longer accomplishing its goals but in fact is only hurting the people of Cuba. This idea is that if the embargo is lifted the new economic gains will force Castro to change in order to profit from the end of sanctions. This could also go one stop farther as the people may force Castro to change or overthrow him. This is likely in the eyes of the United States. The Castro regime has been challenged many times and has knocked down all comers including the Bay of Pigs fiasco. The US feels that it is irrational for them to lift the sanctions without the end of the human rights violations that are being committed. It is not rational to give into someone in hopes of helping the country if the person you are giving into does not even respect the rights of the people he is governing. It would also be irrational to give in now due to the fact that the sanctions are going to hurt Castro more now than ever before. With the end of his Cold War support the Cuban economy has suffered so greatly that in a short period of time, if the sanctions remain in effect, Castro will be left with no choice but to accept the terms or leave office. If he does not he will be challenges more and more by the people and they will eventually force the change. With out the Soviets support the Cuba needs economic assistance from somewhere to survive and with the continued sanctions this assistance will be hard to find. After examining all the policies and searching for all information on the topic of ending the sanctions on Cuba the assumption must be drawn to keep the embargo in place. Now more than ever the sanctions are working at their best and only need time to accomplish the goals. Yes, the embargo has been going on for many years and it has not reached the goals it set out to do but now with the end of the Cold War change must occur in the nation of Cuba if it hopes to survive and flourish in the 21st century. The embargo's stranglehold on the Cuban economy now can fully be effective with the Soviets out of the picture and it will only be a matter of time until the United States goals are met. Yes, the United States should continue the embargo on Cuba and most importantly on Castro. 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