STRANGLING CUBA : Does the embargo make sense? - U.S. embargo of Cuba

Commonweal, August 13, 1999 by Brian Brown

The Cuban Democracy Act, known as the Torricelli Act, for Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.), and lobbied for by wealthy anti-Castro Cuban Americans in Florida and New Jersey, was signed into law in 1992 by President George Bush. It prohibits foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies from trading with Cuba. The Cuba Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (1995), known as the Helms-Burton Act for co-sponsors Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), and Congressman Dan Burton (R-Ind.), prohibits foreign companies from "trafficking" in American property nationalized by Cuba.

Since 1992, the United Nations General Assembly has consistently condemned the blockade against Cuba and called for the United States to rescind provisions of the embargo that violate both the UN charter and international law. The last vote in November was a scathing 157 to 2; the two were the United States and Israel.

In the June issue of Cigar Aficionado, Jesse Helms argues that "the real cause of the misery of the Cuban people is not the U.S. embargo"- it is Castro's regime. "The United States must continue the embargo to keep up pressure for change on the island, because if we don't give up our leverage by unilaterally lifting the embargo, Castro's successors will be forced to exchange normalized relations with the United States for a complete democratic transition in Cuba."

In response, Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) points out that "Cuba is not the only country in the world where government is not democratically elected and where full respect for internationally recognized human rights is lacking." As examples, Dodd cites China, Vietnam, and Russia as countries with which the United States has "no across-the-board trade or investment restrictions and there is no limitation on the freedom to travel."

In calling for repeal of all trade sanctions against Cuba, Dodd characterizes U.S. policy as one "that denies food to hungry Cuban children; that severely limits the availability of medicines and medical supplies to the Cuban people; that denies U.S. citizens the right to travel where they choose; that denies American children access to certain innovative and highly effective Cuban vaccines...."

The Clinton administration-having pursued and accepted campaign contributions from the anti-Castro coalition-recently announced moves to streamline the sale and donation of medicines to Cuba. "It's a charade," says the AAWH. "Donations from U.S. nongovernmental organizations and international agencies do not begin to compensate for the hardships inflicted by the embargo on the Cuban public-health system which is being systematically stripped of essential resources."

On April 29-the day after President Clinton announced that he would allow U.S. companies to sell food and medicine to Iran, Sudan, and Libya, but not Cuba-Dodd and Senator John Warner (R-Va.), along with Representatives Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) and Jim Leach (R-Iowa), introduced bills in both houses to end the embargo on the sale of food and medicine to Cuba (S. 926 and HR 1644, respectively). The sponsors feel that the existence of identical bills "will allow the House and the Senate to work together to constructively change our nation's policy toward Cuba to a more humane one."