Cuba is the largest nation in the Caribbean. Cuba is located approximately ninety miles from the southern coast of Florida. Cuba has been the subject of a number of struggles in its history. Cuba was the final colony that gained independence from Spanish rule. The initial struggle for independence from Spanish rule in Cuba imitated in 1868. Thirty years afterwards, when the U.S. military intervened in the Spanish American War, Cuba gained its independence in 1898. Cuba’s Independence was established by the Treaty of Paris, which was conceded subsequent to a three year period (Vanderbush 57). The perspective of CIA (2013), Coll (2007), Pérez- Stabile (2011), Purcell and Murillo (2003), Rubenezer (2011), Smith (1998) and Vanderbush (2005) will be reviewed. The thesis that will be explored in this essay is the following: The absolution of the Cuban economic embargo and the benefits for a free market Cuba.
The United States and Cuba entered into an accord designated the treaty of relations in 1934. The Treaty of Relations that was agreed upon in 1934 was an extension of the Treaty of Paris and enabled the United States to lease the Guantanamo naval base. Prior to 1959, the United States maintained friendly relations with Cuba. There were a number of Americans who maintained their interest and investments in Cuba. Cuba had been a resort vacation place for many of the global tourists prior to 1959. Subsequent to the overthrow of the Batista regime in 1959, it has been Fidel Castro who has been the leader of Cuba. Fidel Castro endured almost fifty years in tenure as the leader of Cuba (Vanderbush 59).
In 2008, President Castro delegated authority to his brother Raul. Considering that the majority of Cubans are less than fifty years old, many of the Cubans have known no other leader with the exception of Fidel Castro and Raul Castro. The tenure that Fidel Castro has experienced in Cuba has endured through nine U.S. presidencies. The relations that are present between the United States and Cuba began to quickly erode as Fidel Castro directed Cuba toward a one party communist regime. Subsequent to the Cuban revolution, the Cuban government appropriated the property of the American residents and industrial concerns that included real estate, bank accounts, hotels, factories and plantations (Purcell & Murrillo 707).
Finally in on two years after the initial revolutionary movement that Fidel Castro declared to the world that Cuba had adopted a communist perceptive and communists form of governance. . The communist revolution that took place in Cuba with the support from the Soviet Union was exported to other nations in the third world over the twenty years period that followed the Cuban revolution. The United States and the Soviet Union maintained realist political perspectives during the Cold War (Rubenezer 117). The United States placed a trade embargo on Cuba at the end of 1960. This initiated the fifty year period of tensions that were exercised with Cuba. The period of tension initiated with the failed Bay of Pig’s invasion of Cuba and the Cuban Missile crisis. Subsequent to 1961, Cuba has been able to attribute a number of its difficulties to the United States trade embargo (Rubenzer 117).
In 1963, the Cuba Assets Control mandate was passed by the United States. The perspecti8ve of trading with Cuba was equated to trading with an enemy. The mandate enables the president of the United States with the authority of being able to limit commerce between the United States and a regime that was perceived as antagonistic. The reason for the enactment of the Trading with the Enemy mandate was to provide an isolated environment for Cuba that would be enforced from an economic perspective and a political perspective (Purcell & Murillo 707).
All of the financial transactions between the island nation of Cuba and the United States were prohibited. All of the assets that were held by members of the Cuban government in the United States were frozen. All types of travel to Cuba were restricted. This restriction included travel that would be conducted by athletes, researchers, students and journalists (Purcell & Murillo 707).
Subsequent to the collapse of the USSR in the beginning of the 1990s, the United States had the desire of pressuring Cuba to hold democratic elections. In 1992, the Cuba democracy act was enacted that banned Americans from visiting the island nation of Cuba, and sending money to family members in Cuba and to all American based companies from transacting with Cuban national (Smith 536). Several years later during the presidency of President Clinton, the Helms- Burton Act was enacted. The Helms – Burton Act placed more stringent regulations on the prohibition of commerce with Cuba. The passage and implementation of the Helms- Burton Act has been the causal attribute of a number of complaints in Mexico, Canada and the European Union. There had been a protest that was documented with the World Trade of Organization that had been placed by the European Union. The Helms- Burton Act places visa limitations on any American who engages in contact or does commerce with Cuba (Smith 537).
The Helms- Burton Act requires that sanctions that are directed toward trade with Cuba would be suspended in the event of Cuba possessing a government that was chosen by a democratic process, obeys the conventions of human rights, enables the inspection of the Cuban prison systems, regresses property that had been seized from the diaspora to be returned and attempts to return property that was appropriated by the Cuban government subsequent to the Cuban revolution to be return the owners. Presently, the United States has placed a number of regulations and mandates in to affect against Cuba (Coll 199).
The majorities of commercial imported goods that are derived of Cuban origin are illegal and remain documented in the TSRA (Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000) (Rubenezer 115). This act enables specific items to be marketed in Cuba and the travel licenses of individual are also be reviewed on a case basis. Presently, the only products that Americans can receive license to transact with Cuba are medical devices, medicines and agriculture. The visas that are utilized will be considered with regards to members of religiously oriented organizations (CIA 1).
The stringent limitation of trade with Cuba by means of legislative acts contradicts the principle of national sovereignty. The Helms- Burton law has been the recipient of protest that has originated in a number of countries that include the Vatican. Many purport that the Helms- Burton Act has only increased the amount of suffering that is experienced by the Cuban people. There are many who debate the validity of the Helms- Burton Act in a number of countries. Research has demonstrated that more than 60% of Americans perceive that trade relations should be reestablished with Cuba. There were a minority 30% who were opposed to re- establishing commercial relations with Cuba. The more than fifty years of communist dictatorship have caused Cuba to become a country that is deprived of a number of benefits (Vanderbush 115).
The embargo that has been placed on Cuba has always been detailed as a blockade. The word blockade has implications that are more severe than the word embargo. Cuba has suffered since the beginning of the blockade. The nation of Cuba has addressed a number of challenges since 1961. The collapse of the USSR has only made those deficiencies worse. The subsidies that were afforded to Cuba by the USSR totaled to more than $4 - $6 billion a year (Vanderbush 63). Cuba has applied limited reforms and actions in order to augment the efficiency of the state run enterprises and to enhance some of the economic challenges that incorporated serious food deficiencies and deficiencies of products. As a result of the economic issues that Cuba was addressed with in the 1990s, a system that was directed toward the free market models was applied (CIA 1).
The United States dollar became widely accepted in Cuba in the early 1990s as a medium of exchange. As a result of the deficiencies in the products and the consumer goods, the Cuban economy was able to persevere with the assistance of Latin American, Canadian and European investments. Cuba has developed closer connections with Venezuela and China. These increased ties have been required in order for their sustenance of raw materials. Cuba was able to secure investment credits from China as an outcome of the nickel production. Venezuela has been able to provide Cuba with affordable petroleum (CIA 1).
Cuba has been providing compensation for the petroleum that is being imported with the services of more than twenty thousand medical personnel who have been working in the health care segment. In the beginning of the decade of the 2000s, the use of the dollar was prohibited. This was implemented by placing a ten percent tariff on all transactions where the dollar was involved. In accordance with the CIA fact book, the Cuban export production has totaled to more than $7.2 Billion. The primary exports that Cuba produces are coffee, citrus fruit, medical products, fish, tobacco and nickel. The nations that Cuba exports its products to are Spain, China, Canada and the Netherlands. The imports that are required by Cuba have a total amount of $14. 86 billion (CIA 1; Smith 540).
The nations that Cuba imports its products from are Brazil, the United States, Italy, Canada, Germany, Spain china, and Venezuela. There are two mediums of currency that are applied in Cuba. The first currency is the CUP (Cuban Peso) and the convertible peso> the convertible peso is applied for tourists and the domestic peso is what the Cuban use in order to receive their salaries. . The primary Cuban salary of approximately five hundred pesos a month is valued at sixteen dollars. All of the consumer goods require payment in convertible pesos. The use of the two currencies is no one of the most substantial challenges with which the Cuban economy is addressed (CIA 1; Rubenezer 112).
The major of Cubans are faced with conditions of poverty and hardship. The poverty and hardship is attributed to the economic situation in the nation. The results of the economic difficulties in Cuba has been an increase in prostitution, black market transactions and a number of Cubans attempting to flee the island nation in search of a more prosperous existence. . There have been thousands of Cubans who have tried to cross the Caribbean Sea and have drowned in their attempts. The illegal immigration that stems from Cuba is achieved by Cubans applying makeshift rafts, air traffic and foreign smugglers (Smith 540).
The trade embargo that has been placed by the Helms- Burton Act has cussed s great deal of suffering for a number of Cubans. In accordance with U.S. Congressperson Nancy Pelosi, the commercial and financial blockade of Cuba has been equated with more than $89 billion of lost commerce for the United States (qtd. in Pérez- Stable 116). The direct amount of the losses that has been suffered by Cuba is more than $70 billion. This infers that the expense of the embargo has been $159 billion. The economic losses were computed by assessing the potential earnings and opportunity costs that Cuba has suffered since the beginning of the embargo in 1961 (CIA 1).
All of the sectors in Cuba were adversely affected. The primary sectors are also the primary motivation that encourages the Cuban economy. These sectors included the transfer of currency, tourism and the direct foreign investments. Cuba is limited due to its characteristic of having a restricted access to technologies and a variety of other resources. These restrictions are attributed to the blockade that has been placed by the United States. The application of investment and trade is the cause new ideas emerging in economic contexts. The internet, cell phones, lap tops and tablets are adverse elements for closed minded bureaucratic perspectives. In 2001, the United States began to facilitate food products and agricultural products being exported to Cuba (CIA 1, Rubenezer 114).
Over four billion in agricultural products have entered Cuba from the Untied States since 2001. The easing of the blockade could cause an addition $1.6 billion in revenues to be generated due to the Cuban need for United States products. In addition, another twenty five thousand jobs could be generated as an outcome of the easing of the restrictions that enforce the blockade of Cuba (Rubenzer 107).
Cuba has a substantial potential for economic growth in the event that the United States ceases or eases the sanctions that have been placed on Cuba for the past half century. The foreign relations between Cuba and the United States are hoping to get better in the near future due to the characteristic of the Cuban free market system becoming more widespread with Raul Castro. Research has demonstrated that more than 37% of those who participate perceive that the situations in Cuba will improve. More than half of the people believe that the situations on Cuba would not change and more than 6% perceived that the situation would deteriorate further (Vanderbush 137). President Raul Castro has implemented a number of economic reforms that have been directed at improving the infrastructure, improving the salaries that are paid to government employees and farmers. Cuba has a substantial potential. Cuba could be to the United States as Hong Kong is to Asia. The tourists who originate from the Untied States only compose a small fraction of the tourists on the island (CIA 1; Rubenezer 111).
Conclusion
The embargo that has been placed on Cuba has initiated its fifty third year. The embargo has had a cost to the two parties of more than $159 billion since its inception in 1961. The Cubans have a substantial potential. The blockade of products and investment is causing the people to suffer in Cuba. Many of the Cubans have attempted to flee Cuba on makeshift rafts only to drown at sea. If the refugees are fortunate, they are found by the United States Coast Guard. The facts demonstrate that the economic embargo of Cuba has outlived its political, economic and social significance. The absolution of the embargo that has been placed on Cuba would have the outcome of Cuba being converted into a free market economy and a United States trading partner.
Works Cited
CIA “CIA Fact Book Cuba.” CIA, 2013. Web. 30 November 2014. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world- factbook/geos/countrytemplate_cu.html
Coll, Alberto R. "Harming Human Rights in the Name of Promoting Them: The Case of the Cuban Embargo." UCLA J. Int'l L. & Foreign Aff. 12 (2007): 199.
Pérez- Stable, Marifeli. The United States and Cuba: Intimate enemies. New York, NY: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Purcell, Susan Kaufman, and Lorena Murillo S. "La Ley Helms-Burton y el embargo estadounidense contra Cuba." Foro Internacional (2003): 704-718.
Rubenzer, Trevor. "Campaign contributions and US foreign policy outcomes: An analysis of Cuban American interests." American Journal of Political Science 55.1 (2011): 105-116.
Smith, Wayne S. "Our dysfunctional Cuban embargo." Orbis 42.4 (1998): 533-544.
Vanderbush, Walt. The Cuban embargo: The domestic politics of an American foreign policy. Ed. Patrick Jude Haney. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005.Print.
