| Quote | - "Future students of American history will be scratching their heads about this case for decades to come. Our embargo and refusal to normalize diplomatic relations has nothing to do with communism. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War, with China since Nixon, and with Vietnam despite our bitter war there. No, Cuba was pure politics. Though it started out to be a measure of an administration's resistance to Castro's politics, it very soon became a straight-jacket whereby first-generation Cuban-Americans wielded inordinate political power over both parties and constructed a veto over rational, mature diplomacy."
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| abstract | - The United States embargo against Cuba is a commercial, economic, and financial embargo partially imposed on Cuba in October 1960 (almost two years after the Batista regime was deposed by the Cuban Revolution). It was enacted after Cuba nationalized the properties of United States citizens and corporations and it was strengthened to a near-total embargo on February 7, 1962. Titled the Cuban Democracy Act, the embargo was codified into law in 1993 with the stated purpose of maintaining sanctions on Cuba so long as the Cuban government continues to refuse to move toward "democratization and greater respect for human rights." In 1996, Congress passed the Helms–Burton Act, which further restricted United States citizens from doing business in or with Cuba, and mandated restrictions on giving public or private assistance to any successor government in Havana unless and until certain claims against the Cuban government are met. In 1999, U.S. President Bill Clinton expanded the trade embargo even further by also disallowing foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies to trade with Cuba. In 2000, Clinton authorized the sale of certain "humanitarian" US products to Cuba. The English word 'embargo' is dubbed by its opponents in Cuba and Latin America as el bloqueo, despite the fact that the word 'embargo' exists in Spanish, with an identical meaning in this context. The term 'bloqueo' (Spanish for "the blockade") suggests the presence of a physical blockade by the US Government. Despite this implication, no such blockade exists. The USA does not block Cuba's trade with third-party countries: other countries are not under the jurisdiction of US domestic laws, such as the Cuban Democracy Act (although, in theory, foreign countries that trade with Cuba could be penalised by the US, which has been condemned as an "extraterritorial" measure that contravenes "the sovereign equality of States, non-intervention in their internal affairs and freedom of trade and navigation as paramount to the conduct of international affairs."). Cuba can, and does, conduct international trade with many third-party countries; Cuba has been a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1995. Rationing and shortages of food and consumer goods exist in Cuba, but it is possible that the Cuban economy may have been "throttled" by "collectivist central planning", rather than by the embargo. In 2011, the US Government's UN Representative stated that the "Cuban Government’s own policy was the largest obstacle to the country’s own development, concentrating political and economic decisions in the hands of the few and stifling economic growth", and that "The United States was, in fact, a leading source of food and humanitarian aid to Cuba." The embargo has been periodically debated and criticised for over 20 years in UN General Assembly votes. President Barack Obama has outlined a series of steps that Cuba could take to demonstrate a willingness to open its closed society, including releasing political prisoners, allowing United States telecommunications companies to operate on the island and ending government fees on U.S. dollars sent by relatives in the United States. In confirmation hearings for the position of Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton said that she believed that the ban on Cuban-American family travel should be lifted. Many saw this as an opportunity for Cubans and Americans to engage in viable businesses together. The process toward larger diplomatic and commercial openings with Cuba was derailed when Cuban authorities arrested USAID contractor Alan Gross in , sentencing him to 15 years in prison in 2011. While maintaining limited economic exchanges with Cuba, President Obama stated that, without improved human rights and freedoms by Cuba, the embargo remains "in the national interest of the United States." As of November 2011, U.S.–Cuba relations remain frozen and Cuba also remains one of the four countries in the world designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism by the United States Department of State Beyond Cuba's human rights violations and its state sponsored terrorism designation, the United States holds $6 billion worth of financial claims against the Cuban government. The Cuban-American position is that the U. S. embargo is, in part, an appropriate response to these unaddressed claims. The Latin America Working Group argues that pro-embargo Cuban-American exiles, whose votes are crucial in Florida, have swayed many politicians to also adopt similar views. The Cuban-American views have been opposed by some business leaders who argue that trading freely would be good for Cuba and the United States. At present, the embargo, which limits American businesses from conducting business with Cuban interests, is still in effect and is the most enduring trade embargo in modern history. Despite the existence of the embargo, the United States is the fifth largest exporter to Cuba (6.6% of Cuba's imports are from the US). However, Cuba must pay cash for all imports, as credit is not allowed.
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