Cuban embargo: history, impacts, and policy implications

Cuban Embargo

The Failure of the Cuban Embargo

Despite a longstanding history of economic and political ties, the United States and Cuba fell into a period of adversity, largely due to the rise to power of Fidel Castro's communist government in 1958. In an effort to catalyze a regime change, the United States levied economic sanctions against Cuba in the form of a partial embargo, the scope of which was widened on January 3, 1961, after Cuba aligned itself with the Soviet Union. The embargo was imposed on Cuba in an effort to destabilize Castro's authoritarian government, which was seen as politically dangerous, given its proximity to the United States, as well as its close ties to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Unsurprisingly, widespread economic sanctions have failed to transition Castro's communist government toward democracy, which is a result that is consistent with similar measures enacted against other governments around the globe. As a policy tool, it seems as though financial sanctions are largely ineffective, since it essentially grants Castro the ability to blame the impotence of his own harmful government on United States foreign policy. In fact, the effects of the trade embargo are felt only at the lowest levels of Cuban society, as it deprives them of goods that could be purchased from the United States at lower costs. This result is ironic since the embargo was enacted ostensibly to free the Cuban people from an oppressive regime.