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Cuba & the U.S

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Submitted By ayd1963
Words 1538
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Current Events and U.S. Diplomacy
Adrienne DeBrew-Williams
POL300011VA016-1134-001
Dr. Cronin
June 4, 2013

My initial paper was on President John F. Kennedy’s ‘Flexible Response’ doctrine. This doctrine was initiated as a means to having alternative methods of dealing with a crisis that could lead to war. The premise then was to prevent war in any form from occurring. But Flexible Response also meant that if provoked or attacked that the United States would indeed defend itself. When Flexible Response was indoctrinated, the U.S. had already had a shaky relationship with Cuba, with which whom the doctrine was set against. The President had allowed a group of armed militias to enter Cuba to overthrow the government, they were unsuccessful.
Cuba
Cuba is the largest of the islands located in the West Indies. It is 42,803 square miles and just ninety miles from the coastline of the Florida Keys. A person leaving the tip of Florida could travel there in roughly one hour. Prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis the United States had a vested interest in the country, its economics and its politics. Cuba had traded sugar, tobacco and even tourism with the U.S. and many American people had land, homes and businesses there. In fact the relationship likened to that of a parent/child, the U.S. was considering annexing Cuba, with the country being only 90 miles off the coast of Florida, why not? We were assisting them financially, militarily and to some degree politically. I lieu of all of this information it only seemed feasible that we would want to have Cuba as a border state to the U.S. (www.historyofcuba.com).
The Doctrine
When Fidel Castro joined sides with the Soviets in 1962, President Kennedy’s doctrine went into effect this is when the whole scope of our relationship changed. A trade embargo was placed on the country, which immediately halted any product from entering America that was shipped from Cuba. No longer were we supplying them with arms or finances. The U.S. government urged all Americans living there to leave, many had while others remained. We stopped the import of sugar and the infamous Cubans cigars were no longer allowed in the states. Because of this many citizens of Cuba lifestyles began to dwindle, they depended on tourism, trade and relationship with the U.S. Cubans were not able to advance along with America. Getting things like televisions, telephones and newer model cars, all halted. Over time the things they had deteriorated
At this point Cuban American citizens were sanctioned to the degree of even traveling to Cuba. One must be a related by blood, marriage, or adoption, in order to be able to receive a permit to travel to Cuba. Also a person traveling to Cuba could only carry three thousand dollars total with him/her to the country. If a close relative wanted to send money to family they were able to send as much as they wanted, as long as the family member was not a Cuban National. Any person who wanted to send money to a national was prohibited with the overall amount they could send, five hundred dollars. http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba.txt.
During the Cold War
During the Cold War, the relationship between Cuba and America remained desolate. On September 4, 1961 The Foreign Assistance Act went into effect, this Act prohibited any aid with Cuba and allowed for a total embargo on the country. In March of 1962, President Kennedy expanded it to include all goods made by Cuban materials, even if it was made in other countries. In August of 1962, the U.S. amended the Foreign Assistance Act which would ‘prohibited any country’ from assisting Cuba. This was just the icing on the cake, in February of 1963 President Kennedy made commercial and financial transactions, and travel to Cuba illegal for U.S. citizens (historyofcuba.com). President Kennedy was truly trying to shut down the country blocking every avenue possible. And he succeeded.
As long as Fidel Castro had command of the Cuban government, there would be no support for Cuba, no trade with Cuba and hopefully no economy for Cuba. This was basically the case, since the country really could not trade with anyone. It was difficult for Cuba to receive the necessary instruments and parts to make much needed repair. Cuba’s transportation was basically shut down, industries that had started to boom prior to the Missile Crisis, shut down. The interesting aspect of this is that even though President Kennedy placed these sanctions on Cuba, not one of these was placed on The Soviet Union. The reason for this is because The Soviet Union was an established government (legal & recognized) and Castro was not.
In the early 1980’s Cuba’s economy was so distraught that thousands of citizens sought to seek political asylum to mostly European countries. Castro announced that he would allow those who wanted to leave to do so. Of those who left Castro himself released approximately 22,000 criminals and mental patients, whom landed on the shores of Florida, Castro refused to take the back (www.time.com).
Relations Today
Since the embargo placed on Cuba by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, we have had nine Presidents spanning over the past forty eight years. Each one has either added to or subtracted from the original embargo. In the seventies we find a great deal of restrictions being lifted. 1975 Senator Edward M. Kennedy stated “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” Kennedy stated. August of that same year the U.S announced that it would allow foreign subsidies of American businesses to sell and trade products with Cuba. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter lifted travel restrictions and U.S citizens spending dollars in Cuba (www.historyofcuba.com).
In the eighties President Reagan decided to retighten the embargo originally sanctioned on Cuba in 1962 along with the travel ban (www.historyofcuba.com).
The nineties was a decade of flip flop and around the block. Presidents and U.S General Assembly and the United Nations, went back and forth with either wanting to assist Cuba or not assist the nation. In 1999 President William Clinton makes modification to the embargo. He allows sales of food products to individuals, an increase in flights, anyone in general can send $1,200.00 per year, the amount a per can spend per day while visiting is increased to $185.00 per day from $100.00, and the Baltimore Orioles were allowed to play an exhibition game in Cuba. Also in 1999, six members of the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus visited Cuba to evaluate the effect the embargo was having on the nation (www.historyofcuba.com ).
Usher in the new century and many embargos are still in force. Full trade is still prohibited and many American citizens, businesses and members of congress want a full dissolution of the embargo. As stated by Richard D. McCormic a U.S. businessman, “embargoes don’t work…they are counterproductive.” In essence the embargos are just hurting the citizens of Cuba and not the Cuban government. In retrospect this is true, Cuban citizens today are relatively twenty years behind where we are now. They don’t have adequate medicine, having an adequate food supply is still an issue, and technology hasn’t met its full potential as it has the rest of the western hemisphere (www.historyofcuba.com ).
Today the relationship between Cuba and the United States is fairing little better, and I mean a little. President Obama has lifted travel restrictions for Cuban Americans that have relatives in Cuba, and he is also allowing U.S. telecommunication companies the right to sell services there. Telecommunications have remained the same since the 1950’s. The President wants to have an amicable relationship with Cuba and President Raul Castro, who was given control of Cuba since Fidel’s illness and subsequent surgery. The hope is to eventually lift all restrictions and forever do away with the economic embargo on Cuba. As it stands today, we still support the island nation when things like severe hurricanes hit and damage the island. “Why spend billions of dollars to country that you have an embargo on?” Now, there’s a hidden motive.
If talks do happen and the outcome is favorable, we can hopefully expect to see a full lift of the original embargo imposed on this country within the next couple of years. This will of course allow the country to gain some sort of economic prosperity and compete in the world economy.

References

U.S.-Cuba Relations, Suddah, Claire, April 15, 2009 http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891359,00.html

Cuba Embargo http://cuba-embargo.procon.org/ History of Cuba, Sierra, J. A., Economic Timeline http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/embargo.htm Cuba: What You Need To Know About the U.S. Embargo, Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury
http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba.txt

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