The Cuban Embargo

The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the European discovery of the island by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule, marked initially by neglect, became increasingly repressive, provoking an independence movement and occasional rebellions that were harshly suppressed. It was US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 that finally overthrew Spanish rule. The subsequent Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence, which was granted in 1902 after a three-year transition period. Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule has held the regime together since then. Cuba's Communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The country is now slowly recovering from a severe economic recession in 1990, following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies, worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually. Cuba portrays its difficulties as the result of the US embargo in place since 1961. Illicit migration to the US - using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, air flights, or via the southwest border - is a continuing problem. The US Coast Guard intercepted 2,810 individuals attempting to cross the Straits of Florida in fiscal year 2006.

Economic Background

The Cuban government continues to balance the need for economic loosening against a desire for firm political control. It has rolled back limited reforms undertaken in the 1990s to increase enterprise efficiency and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. The average Cuban's standard of living remains at a lower level than before the downturn of the 1990s, which was caused by the loss of Soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. Since late 2000, Venezuela has been providing Cuba oil on preferential terms, and it currently supplies about 98,000 barrels per day of petroleum products. Cuba has been paying for the oil, in part, with the services of Cuban personnel, including some 20,000 medical professionals. In 2006, high metals prices continued to boost Cuban earnings from nickel and cobalt production. Havana continued to invest in the country's energy sector to mitigate electrical blackouts that have plagued the country since 2004. The island nation of Cuba, located just ninety miles off the coast of Florida, is home to 11 million people and has one of the few remaining communist regimes in the world. Despite severe economic suffering and increasing isolation from the world community, Castro remains committed to communism.

The United States and Cuba share a long history of mutual mistrust and suspicion. All aspects of U.S. policy with Cuba, such as the current trade embargo, immigration practices, and most recently the possibility of a free exchange by members of the media, provoke heated debates across the United States. While most Americans agree that the ultimate goals should be to encourage Castro's resignation and promote a smooth transition to democracy, experts disagree about how the U.S. government should accomplish these aims. Some believe that the country's current policy toward Cuba is outdated in its Cold War approach and needs to be reconstructed. However, many still consider Fidel Castro a threat in the hemisphere and a menace to his own people and favor tightening the screws on his regime even more.

History of US-Cuban Relations

In the early 1900's, Cuban assembly adopted the U.S. Platt Amendment, which granted Cuba official right of self-governance, in exchange for Cuba's agreement to provide the U.S. with a naval base on Cuban territory, to promise to limit its foreign debt, and to promise never to sign treaties with foreign powers contrary to U.S. interests.

Thereafter, the U.S. continued to grow their trade and investments with Cuba. The U.S. was Cuba's main importer and foreign investments reached a high of 1.5 billion. During the first half of the century, Cuba resembled a U.S. colony with many wealthy Americans vacationing on Cuba's beaches. All this changed in January 1959 when Fidel Castro led a Cuban revolution that triumphed over the U.S.-friendly dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

At first, the United States recognized the new Cuban government but within time U.S-Cuban bilateral relations deteriorated. Castro nationalized the many foreign investments in Cuba stating the property belonged to the Cuban People. U.S. President Eisenhower issued a statement asserting that while the U.S. did not intend to meddle in Cuban politics, Americans had the right to retrieve their investments in Cuba. The Cuban regime expropriated U.S. properties anyways and moved towards adoption of a one-party Marxist-Leninist system.

In response to Castro's confiscation of American property, the regime's human rights violations, and its close ties to the Soviet Union, President Dwight Eisenhower enacted America's trade embargo against Cuba. Cuba was weakened by the removal of U.S. economic foundation and as a result Cuba started developing close relationships with the Soviet Union. Eventually Cuba adopted a Communist economy.

Cuba became a focal point of the Cold War In 1962. When U.S. leaders learned that the Soviet Union was installing nuclear missiles in Cuba. In a tense standoff, called the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John Kennedy placed U.S. military forces on alert and blockaded the island until the Soviets agreed to abandon their installation. The Soviet Union withdrew the missiles, and a possible nuclear confrontation between the two superpowers was avoided.

By the time the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union fell, Cuba had also lost its economic stability. The Soviet Union was Cuba's largest trading partner, providing the Cuban economy with over $6 billion a year. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, Cuba's economic and political support went with it. Additionally, The U.S. trade embargo remained in place; further weakening Cuba's deteriorating economy.

For over 40 years, the United States has not imported any Cuban products, nor allowed any American food, medical supplies, or capital to enter Cuba. In recent years, U.S. legislation has been prone to expanding the embargo on Cuba, especially through the Cuban Democracy Act and the Helms-Burton Act.

The Cuban Democracy Act, passed by Congress in 1992, further isolates Cuba from the