Last year, Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) introduced a bill to Congress to end the Cuban embargo, named the "United States-Cuba Trade Act of 2003." All I have to say is: it's about time.
For the last 40 years, the Cuban embargo has been an eyesore of U.S. foreign policy on numerous levels. First and foremost, it has accomplished few of its goals. President John F. Kennedy began the embargo in October 1962, in order to punish Fidel Castro's regime for allowing the storage of Soviet nuclear arms in Cuba. Today, Castro is a billionaire and looks as though he will dictate Cuba from his deathbed.
The embargo was supposed to place pressure on Castro to eventually reform the communist system in Cuba, promote democracy and improve human rights. Today, Castro has a complete stronghold on all aspects of human life, the communist system still reigns and the Cuban people have suffered immensely. One would think that after so many years of failure, politicians would have rethought this ridiculous policy towards Cuba sooner.
The embargo did have a national security rationale during the Cold War, as America was trying to contain communism and prevent a nuclear catastrophe. However, the Cold War ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union ceased to exist. There is no more communist threat, and the United States is the lone superpower of the world. So the embargo never made sense in the post-Cold War world, as it outlived one of its main objectives by 12 years: quarantining countries allied with the Soviet Union.
What is worse than the failure and illogicality of the embargo is that Cubans have suffered from it. For most of the past 40 years, Cubans have been denied essential American food products and medical supplies, creating incredible hardships for the people. The Cuban economy has lost billions in potential revenue from being restricted from trading freely with the United States. Cuba is a poor, dysfunctional country of 11 million people that poses absolutely no threat to us. So why did we continue these harsh sanctions that simply hurt innocent people?
Americans have been hurt by the embargo as well, as a potential U.S. multibillion dollar export industry in Cuba has been squandered to foreign firms and companies. The embargo restricts Americans' right to travel, a restriction that resembles the former Soviet Union's efforts to prevent their citizens from traveling to "problematic" countries.
Proponents of the embargo argue that lifting it would boost Castro's regime by giving him more access to money and power. On the contrary, Castro has relied on the embargo as a scapegoat for his country's problems, even though most of Cuba's problems are the result of Castro's own past and present failures. Allowing free trade with and travel to Cuba would undermine Castro by preventing him from tacking his country's woes on the United States.
In an age when the United States needs as many allies as possible, this embargo contributes to the way that many countries look at us scornfully, as a bully who is unnecessarily harming her less fortunate neighbor. We have far greater problems to deal with than whether U.S. citizens are spending money in Cuba.
Although dealing with Iraq and terrorism is currently the priority of our government, a decision to lift the Cuban embargo in the near future would be a monumental change in the lives of Cubans, Cuban-Americans and Americans. It would be a win-win situation for Cubans and Americans: cheap, high- quality American goods such as food and medicine would circulate throughout Cuba, and unique, cultural Cuban goods like cigars, clothing and coffee would circulate throughout the United States.
Both economies would improve, the quality of life would improve in Cuba and Americans would benefit from being able to freely visit Cuba, a culturally rich, beautiful country with friendly, enthusiastic people.
It is time, finally, to end this counterproductive, nonsensical and immoral policy. Normalizing relations with Cuba will not perfect life on the island, but it is an important departure from the failure of the embargo and a step towards a more sound United States foreign policy.
Stephan Vitvitsky is a junior majoring in political science. He can be reached via e-mail at stephan.vitvitsky@tufts.edu.
