Endless Embargo

U.S. freeze-out is harmful to Cuba

Pablo Zequeira

Monday, October 25th, 2010

I was born on the island of Cuba during the last stages of the Soviet block. When I was six years old, my father and I were exiled. Neither of us has returned. I left legally as a political refugee, but some Cubans didn’t have the choice before they jumped in the water or “disappeared” in the Cuban prison system, as many political prisoners often do. The Cuban embargo has been around long enough to see the turn of the century. While the commercial embargo on Cuba has driven families apart, it has indirectly enforced the Castro regime by giving them a cause and an enemy, and essentially gives the regime something to complain about.

In 2009, President Barack Obama prolonged the commercial embargo on Cuba after he made promises to shut down the military base at Guantanamo to end the two-decade old embargo. Since the middle of July 2010, an ongoing disagreement between both parties has ensued. In April 2009, the Guardian reported that Raúl Castro and Havana were open to talks about everything, including the 50-year-old feud. They repeated this seemingly juvenile process, leaving it off exactly where it began.

In 1963 an economic embargo was declared against the nation of Cuba, a direct result of the military arms race. Most recently, on April 13, 2009 the Washington Post reported, “President Obama is lifting some restrictions on Cuban Americans' contact with Cuba and allowing U.S. telecom companies to operate there, opening up the communist nation to more cellular and satellite service.” After years of uneasy silence the Cuban people wish to see a bigger change. The majority of the Cuban public is kept in the dark to these sorts of events.

Democrat Charles Rangel stated in 2009 that the embargo on Cuba would end in the latter half of 2010. The Cuban government has been waving an olive branch in the face of the American government for some time now by offering suggestions on how the two countries can finally reconcile their age long differences, and ultimately stating that the Obama administration alone will not be able to end the embargo, but that Washington as a whole needs to help. Newsweek wrote, “The White House decided to take some of these steps several months ago... The administration is waiting to announce them until after the November elections.”

When the Berlin wall finally came down, activists who fought against both Cuba’s and the United States’ oppression expected things to finally change. Twenty-two years later, both sides are just beating a dead horse. The embargo doesn't weaken the Cuban government, but instead places the population at constant risk. There are multiple European nations that openly trade with Cuba, ignoring the United States' embargo on the island. It seems to me that this will only end when the Castro regime relinquishes power, but evidently, that’s never going to happen. The embargo itself empowers the Castro regime, giving them an excuse to maintain power — not just over the Cuban people — but also over the island, further prolonging their inability to maintain a sturdy economy.

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Endless Embargo