Friends and strangers have often asked me about my views on the Cuban Embargo and current relations between the U.S. and Cuba. This page briefly outlines some of my thoughts on the subject.

The Cuban Embargo

Over the years we have seen the fall of many dictators and the tyranny they enforce. We’ve recently seen the fall of Saddam, the fall of Mobuto in South Africa, the fall of Pinochet in Chile. One of the world’s worst modern day tyrants remains in power just ninety miles off U.S. shores. Fidel Castro. We as a free society continue to struggle between the ouster of Fidel and our love affair with Cuba. In our plight to spread freedom across the Florida straights, the American government is the only government that has taken the few steps possible under the world’s political microscope. The Cuban Embargo enacted by President Kennedy in 1962 remains as one of our last tools against the current regime. Many today question the Embargo and its’ failure to remove Fidel and its impact on the Cuban people.

There are many who claim the Embargo’s real victims are the Cuban people and not the regime itself as intended. That claim is a common misunderstanding by those with little knowledge of the Cuban government’s workings and control over the people. Castro trades with the rest of the world and yet the people still lack the basic necessities they deserve. Tourists arrive by the hundred’s of thousands annually, many of them American’s that circumvent the ban through loopholes. Millions of dollars pour into Cuba each year, 400 million from Canada alone and yet both doctors and lawyers make between $10-$20 a month. The economical crisis in Cuba is only part of the tragedy. Hundreds have been killed by firing squad for their belief in freedom of speech, which has been documented in various books by reliable authors. One of those being Armando Valladares, who spent twenty-two years in Castro’s gullies and recently held office as Ambassador to the U.N. for Human Rights Violations, has recounted many of those atrocities. Thousands of properties and businesses have been stolen by the regime. Billions of dollars have been nationalized, however, the shortage of food and medicine continues. The Castro regime’s enforcement of “sociolismo” and communism has been simply a tool to keep the people repressed and the regime in power.

The Embargo is a very unfortunate tool and has its negative affects as many tools of war do. It is not the cause of repression in Cuba, but possibly a way to limit Castro’s power and tyranny over the people. The people of Cuba deserve the freedoms we Americans demand in the world. It’s very tempting to say, “We should lift the restrictions. We should be allowed to travel and trade with Cuba” but we must look beyond our own desires of travel and exploration. We should be focused on the well being of our Caribbean brothers and the freedom they deserve. Sadly I don’t believe the Embargo is enough but we must stay the course. The course of freedom must never die.