I feel that it should be repealed for the following reasons:
Castro is actually benifitting from it because he blames the situation on the embargo and uses it as an example of “Yankee agression”
If we can have trade with China, who also is communist, and more of a threat to us, then why not Cuba?.
Cuba, with its resources, could be a great market, which America is missing out on.
The embargo hasn’t changed anything, nor will it ever. So what’s the point of having it?
This subject has come up a number of times before.
The general consensus is “Lift the damn thing.”
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I didn’t know it was simply the U.S. vs. Castro.
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Why should we trade with China? Just because someone decides that it is ok to trade with them doesn’t mean I want to compound the error by trading with Cuba.
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What resources? Other then a bit of sugar they’d be nothing more then a tourist trap.
Sometimes it is ok to have principles. I wouldn’t want to trade with any other dictator.
Marc
I admit, the whole cigar-smuggling thing is getting tedious…
It always can be hard to interpret things, so I don’t know for sure which way you mean this.
“I didn’t know, thanks for the info.”
or
“I didn’t know, and don’t really believe.”
If you meant the latter - I can find no evidence that any other nation is involved in an embargo against Cuba. I can find some circumstantial evidence indicating that virtually no one else is involved (8 consecutive years of UN General Assembly resolutions calling for an end to the embargo - all of which pass by HUGE margins, according to this press release). Can you provide any evidence that anyone else in the world is taking on this battle?
If you meant the former - I apologize for misconstruing things.
Lifting the embargo is admitting that we were wrong. For a long time. And America isn’t ready to admit that. Hehehe…We thought it would force Castro out, and when it didn’t we just looked stupid.
Of course we should lift it. It's not like we can look any stupider than we already do.[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by MGibson *
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And what a tourist trap! After spending about 3 months there, I’m pretty well convinced it would kill much of Florida’s tourist economy. We are talking sport fishing and scuba extravaganza.
The funny thing is that most Cubans don’t dislike Castro or the US. They dislike Cuban Americans quite a bit. They can see that the government is bowing to a very vocal minority and in their minds, the economy sucks because of these rich Cubans that fled in the beginning. Also, when Castro goes and the Cuban Americans go back to claim their land, it will not be a popular or pleasant situation.
One note: in using the term Cuban Americans, I am referring to the group that had money and land and fled under the revolution. This does not include the people that came over in hopes of obtaining money to send back to their loved ones.
Peace,
gkj
MGibson, if you don’t want to trade with Cuba, don’t. Your principles shouldn’t keep me from being able to freely buy Cohibas. Open trade with Cuba and allowing Cubans to emigrate to the United States would get Castro out of power far faster than the current situation.
Also, trading with Cuba is not trading with a dictator. In case you hadn’t noticed, Castro is the dictator, not the entire population of Cuba. Why should they suffer extra for the misfortune of living in a dictatorship. The United States should set the example of being in favor of every individual’s right to trade freely. Even individuals in two-bit communist dictatorships.
Hey here we are Waterj2. Something to agree upon. I am firmly pro-free trade. Now, if any individuals want to not handle cargo from Cuba that is their business. It’s like the embargo on Iraq, how many millions of Iraqi children have died because of it, and is Saddam any weaker? No, if anything he’s stronger. Why? Cause there is a bogyman outside of the country to blame for all the problems.
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Uh, I thought Castro prohibited Cubans from coming to the United States.
Then we should never ever set up an embargo against any nation.
Marc
Yes, Castro does try to keep Cubans from coming here. We certainly shouldn’t be helping him out with this policy. But then again I support letting anyone move to the US.
And you’re right, “we should never ever set up an embargo against any nation.” Ever. Like most government intervention, I think the costs are borne in large proportion by the poor, who really are not served by being used as pawns in pissing matches between greater and lesser tyrants.
The cost is also felt by their military. In the case of China they have companies that specifically exist to provide money to their military. So consider that next time you buy a Chinese product. You could be supporting the same military that squashed a pro democracy in a certain square not so long ago.
Marc
Do you think that without the extra income, the Chinese military will decide to give up oppressing the populace, or will they simply make life suck more for the average soldier? Anyways, you trade with who you think deserves your money, but you still have no right to decide what I can do with my money.
Nah, they won’t simply give up. But I’m not willing to support what I consider to be an evil organization. And embargos do work. Keep it up and China won’t be able to buy all sorts of neat toys for their army. Oh, and they’d probably have a harder time stealing our nuclear secrets.
The government prints the money right? Why can’t they decide that their money shouldn’t be spent in certain places?
Marc
Actually, the government only prints currency. “Money” is more equivalent to “value”, and is only represented by currency. The government has simply distributed a standard medium of exchange to facilitate trade.
Simple stuff. You may be interested in taking an introductory economics class.
Aside from that, although I use government issued credit coupons and their electronic equivalents for most of my daily transactions, the money represented is mine and the government should only have a say in how I spend it if they can show that it is a serious threat to the security of mankind as a whole.
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Actually they also make it good for all debts public and private. I can’t think of any other object of value that can make that claim.
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That was rude, and there was certainly no reason to say something like this.
Marc
oooh boy. Mgibson, it wasn’t a rude comment. It was a polite suggestion. You really dont’ seem to grasp the concept of the difference between money and currency.
yes, the government prints it, but they don’t hand it out to those they see fit. It is simply a fetish, one that represents the true value of objects. Now, the government does have some money for itself. It collects it through taxes. That money, the government is more than welcome to decide what to do with. They don’t want to send it to Cuba, don’t send it to Cuba. There is a big difference between them doing that, and them telling me where I can or can’t send my money.
Let’s open trade today!
The Yankees need a new pitcher now that El Duque’s elbow is hurt!
But seriously, free trade with Cuba will raise their living standards (thus proving the fraud of Communist ideology) and a lessening of tensions will allow ordinary Cubans to question the necessity of the Communist police state.
When ordinary Cubans start questioning the morality of Castro’s executions and imprisonments (as ordinary Russins did under Brezhnev), the tottering structure will fall quickly.
I’m for unrestricted trade with Cuba. The U.S. needs to just accept the facts that a) WE put Castro in power, b) He made us look stupid by allying with the U.S.S.R., c) He made us look like bumbling idiots the several times we tried to overthrow him, and d) He is not going anywhere. That much is obvious.
We should just admit the mistake, deal with it, move on with life. Castro is a popular leader (regardless of the show those rabid freaks in Florida put on over the Gonzalez kid), and to be honest, I really don’t think it’s our business to interfere with the internal politics of any other nation, Monroe doctrine be damned. Why are we “protecting the world from communism”? The cold war is over, and it’s inconvenient for the political machine not to have a scapegoat. That’s why this crap continues.
Let it go. Open trade. And borders. If you can’t beat him, make friends with the guy. He’s obviously better at the game than anybody we’ve had over here has been.
As has been mentioned and alluded to the reason for the Embargo is the ousted Cuban Ex-Patriots and their families. They have a strong and well funded political voice and it has been the lynch pin in keeping the Embargo in place.
I understand their fervor, I just don’t agree with it. I know I’d be pretty upset were my house and businesses seized by a bigwig and I forced to flee my home country in fear of my life and livelihood. Righteous anger can be debilitating though, and I think that lifting the Embargo would assist in ending the dictatorship better than keeping the Embargo in place.