United States embargo against Cuba

{{see also|Agrarian reforms in Cuba|Cuban Revolution}}

File:Fidel Castro in Washington.jpg, Washington, D.C., 1960]]

The United States imposed an arms embargo on Cuba on March 14, 1958, during the armed conflict of 1953-1959 between rebels led by Fidel Castro and the Fulgencio Batista régime. Arms sales violated U.S. policy which had permitted the sale of weapons to Latin-American countries which had signed the 1947 Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty) as long as the weapons were not used for hostile purposes.{{Cite news|url= http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuban-rebels/4-3-58-embargo.htm|title= U.S. Embargo Set on Arms to Cuba; Shipment Halted|last= Wiskari|first= Werner|date= April 3, 1958|newspaper= The New York Times|access-date= February 8, 2017|via= latinamericanstudies.org}} After the Castro socialist government came to power on January 1, 1959, relations were initially friendly between Castro and the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration but became strained after the Agricultural Reform confiscated land owned by many American businesses and Cuba continued to sponsor revolutionary movements in other parts of the Caribbean. By March 1960 the U.S. government began making plans to help overthrow the Castro administration.{{Cite web |date=September 19, 2024 |title=The Bay of Pigs Invasion and its Aftermath, April 1961–October 1962 |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/bay-of-pigs |access-date=September 19, 2024 |website=Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute}}

In April 1960, the U.S. Department of State issued a memorandum acknowledging majority support within Cuba for the Castro administration, the fast spread of communism within the country, and the lack of an effective political opposition. The memorandum stated that the "only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship."{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1345216431 |title=Sanctions as War: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives on American Geo-Economic Strategy |date=2023 |publisher= Haymarket Books|isbn=978-1-64259-812-4 |location= |pages=129 |oclc=1345216431|last1=Davis |first1=Stuart }} It recommended a policy that would be "adroit and inconspicuous as possible" while aiming to deny "money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government."{{cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499|title=Document 499 - Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Cuba, Volume VI - Historical Documents - Office of the Historian|access-date=March 21, 2016}}{{cite book | last=Karlsson | first=Håkan | title=The Johnson Administration's Cuba policy : from | publisher=Routledge | publication-place=New York, NY | year=2021 | isbn=978-1-000-28215-3 | page=}} In May 1960 the Cuban government began regularly and openly purchasing armaments from the Soviet Union, citing the U.S. arms embargo. In July 1960 the U.S. reduced the import quota of brown sugar from Cuba to 700,000 tons under the Sugar Act of 1948;Haass, Richard N. Economic Sanctions and American Diplomacy. 1998. and the Soviet Union responded by agreeing to purchase the sugar instead.{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Stuart |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1345216431 |title=Sanctions as War: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives on American Geo-Economic Strategy |date=2023 |publisher=Haymarket Books |isbn=978-1-64259-812-4 |location= |pages=131 |oclc=1345216431}}

In June 1960, Eisenhower's government refused to export oil to the island, leaving Cuba reliant on Soviet crude oil. Cuba and the Soviet Union signed a trade agreement according to which the Soviet Union would provide 900,000 tons of oil to Cuba.{{Cite book |last=Cederlöf |first=Gustav |title=The Low-Carbon Contradiction: Energy Transition, Geopolitics, and the Infrastructural State in Cuba |publisher=University of California Press |year=2023 |isbn=9780520393134 |location=Oakland, California}}{{Rp|page=40}} The U.S. viewed the agreement as a provocation, and successfully urged Esso, Texaco, and Shell to refuse to process Soviet crude in their Havana and Santiago de Cuba refineries.{{Rp|page=40}} On June 29 and July 1, 1960, Cuba confiscated the refineries.{{Rp|page=40}} The U.S. responded by canceling its quota of sugar purchases from Cuba.{{Rp|page=40}}

On July 11, 1960, Eisenhower wrote a personal letter to UK prime minister Harold Macmillan encouraging joint action in sanctioning Cuba. Eisenhower elaborates in the letter that the reason for the original diplomatic decline with Cuba was:

{{Blockquote

|text=

The story of the cancellation of elections, of the ascendancy of the Communist oriented group and purge of the moderates, of the executions and the hounding of all anti-Communists, of the abortive Cuban-supported efforts to overthrow various Caribbean governments, and of the shrill anti-American diatribes... We were directly affected when Castro, choosing the Agrarian Reform Law version advanced by the extremists, authorized the expropriation of extensive American properties without acceptable provision for compensation.

}}

Eisenhower goes on to mention that despite these issues he pursued a "policy of restraint" throughout 1959, but that the ultimate factor leading to a proactive approach against the Castro government in 1960 was:

{{Blockquote

|text=

...the degree to which Cuba had been handed over to the Soviet Union as an instrument with which to undermine our position in Latin America and the world.{{cite web |last=Eisenhower |first=Dwight |date=1960 |title=551. Letter From President Eisenhower to Prime Minister Macmillan |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d551 |website=history.state.gov |location= |publisher=Office of the Historian |access-date=}}}}

In response to sanctions, on August 30, 1960, the Cuban government nationalized three American-owned oil refineries as well as Compañía Cubana de Electricidad, the Cuban Telephone Company, and 36 sugar mills.{{Rp|page=40}} The refineries became part of the state-run company, Unión Cuba-Petróleo.{{Cite web |last=Frank |first=Marc |date=May 3, 2019 |title=Exxon Mobil sues Cuba for $280 million over expropriated property |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/business/exxon-mobil-sues-cuba-for-280-million-over-expropriated-property-idUSKCN1S925X/ |access-date=May 3, 2019 |website=Reuters}} This prompted the Eisenhower administration to launch the first trade embargo—a prohibition against selling all products to Cuba outside of humanitarian aid.

In October 1960 the Cuban administration responded by nationalizing all American businesses and most American privately owned properties on the island. Castro promised to separate Americans in Cuba from all of their possessions "down to the nails in their shoes".{{Cite journal |last=LeoGrande |first=William M. |date=2015 |title=A Policy Long Past Its Expiration Date: US Economic Sanctions Against Cuba |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44282148 |journal=Social Research |volume=82 |issue=4 |pages=939–966 |jstor=44282148 |issn=0037-783X}} Cuba's nationalization laws required the government to compensate the owners of seized property, but compensation was to be made in Cuban bonds, an offer rejected by American authorities. Payments pursuant to the Cuban bonds were to be paid from the sale of Cuban sugar to the U.S., but the Americans had just canceled its purchases of Cuban sugar.{{Cite book |last=Ferrer |first=Ada |title=Cuba. An American History |date=2021 |publisher=Scribner |isbn=978-1-5011-5455-3 |location=NY}}{{Rp|page=347}} No compensation was paid. Other countries which had their assets nationalised, including Switzerland, Canada, Spain, and France, were more agreeable to Castro’s terms, seemingly convinced that they would not be able to get a better deal.{{cite web |date=2014-04-18 |title=Cuba, you owe us $7 billion |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/04/18/cuba-you-owe-billion/jHAufRfQJ9Bx24TuzQyBNO/story.html |access-date=January 25, 2023 |publisher=Boston Globe |quote=Other countries that had holdings in Cuba—including Switzerland, Canada, Spain, and France—were more amenable to Castro’s terms, apparently convinced that there was no chance they’d ever get a better deal.}}

The second wave of nationalizations prompted the Eisenhower administration, in one of its last actions, to sever all diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961. The U.S. partial trade embargo with Cuba continued under the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917.{{Cite web |date=January 5, 1961 |title=Memorandum From Secretary of State Herter to President Eisenhower |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1961-63v10/d12 |access-date=September 19, 2024 |website=United States Office of the Historian}} The Cuban government's nationalization of U.S. owned property is the “largest uncompensated taking of American property by a foreign government in history.”{{Cite journal |last=Ashby |first=Timothy |title=U.S. Certified Claims against Cuba: Legal Reality and Likely Settlement Mechanisms |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25593625 |access-date=September 19, 2024 |journal=University of Miami Inter-American Law Review|date=2009 |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=413–431 |jstor=25593625 }} Assets seized, included vacation homes and bank accounts of wealthy individuals, but most seized property was owned by large American corporations, including sugar factories, mines and oil refineries.

{{see also|Bay of Pigs Invasion|Cuban Missile Crisis}}

At the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 17 to 20 April 1961, an operation devised under Eisenhower but which President John F. Kennedy had approved preceding his presidency, Castro characterized the Cuban revolution and state as "socialist".

{{cite web

| title = Социализм Фиделя Кастро

| last = Вахитов

| first = Рустем

| url = http://www.contr-tv.ru/common/1875/

| access-date = 2 January 2023

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090221230321/http://russoc.by.ru/Doctrina/Kuba_socialism.htm

| archive-date = 21 February 2009

| quote = Кастро охарактеризовал кубинскую революцию как социалистическую лишь 16 апреля 1961 года (то есть на втором году революции), на похоронах жертв американской варварской бомбардировки острова. Фидель произнес там следующие слова: «Товарищи рабочие и крестьяне, наша революция является социалистической и демократической, революцией бедняков, которая делается силами бедняков и в интересах бедняков». Заметим, что Фидель ничего не сказал о марксизме, речь ша [sic] о демократическом или как тогда говорили народном социализме.

}}

{{cite journal

| last1 = McConaughy

| first1 = John B.

| title = Latin America - Soviet Target

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SgdWlDeSE2YC

| journal = Quarterly Review of Military Literature

| year = 1961

| publication-date = October 1961

| volume = 41

| issue = 10

| page = 45

| quote = When Castro, on 1 May 1961 , declared that Cuba was now a Socialist state, he meant something utterly alien to the kind of democratic socialism exemplified by Figueres and Betancourt.

| access-date = 4 January 2023

}}

{{cite book

|last1 = Coltman

|first1 = Leycester

|author-link1 = Leycester Coltman

|date = 1 October 2008

|orig-date = 2003

|chapter = Invasion

|title = The Real Fidel Castro

|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=esRje8Jo3LMC

|publisher = Yale University Press

|page = 180

|isbn = 9780300133394

|access-date = 4 January 2023

|quote = 'What the imperialists cannot forgive us,' [Castro] roared, 'is that we have made a Socialist revolution under their noses.' This was the first occasion on which Castro publicly described the Revolution as being Socialist [...].

}}

It aligned with the Soviet Union. On September 4, 1961, partly in response, Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act, a Cold War Act that prohibited aid to Cuba and authorized the President to impose a complete trade-embargo against Cuba. On January 21, 1962, Cuba was suspended by the Organization of American States (OAS), by a vote of 14 in favor, one (Cuba) against with six abstentions.{{Cite web |last=Brice |first=Arthur |title=OAS lifts 47-year-old suspension of Cuba |url=https://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/06/03/cuba.oas/index.html |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=CNN News}} Mexico and Ecuador, two abstaining members, argued that the OAS Charter did not authorize expulsion. Multilateral sanctions were imposed by OAS, led by the U.S., on July 26, 1964, but were later rescinded on July 29, 1975. Relations between Cuba and the OAS have since warmed and the suspension was lifted on June 3, 2009.{{cite journal |last1=Cerna |first1=Christina M. |title= Recent OAS Documents on Cuba and Honduras: Democracy and the Inter-American Democratic Charter |journal= International Legal Materials |date= December 2009 |volume= 48 |issue= 6 |pages= 1242–1253 |doi=10.1017/S0020782900000826|s2cid=152612190 }}

Kennedy extended measures by executive order, first widening the scope of the trade restrictions on February 8 and then again on March 23, 1962.{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1345216431 |title=Sanctions as War: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives on American Geo-Economic Policy |date=2023 |publisher= Haymarket Books|isbn=978-1-64259-812-4 |location= |pages=133 |oclc=1345216431|last1=Davis |first1=Stuart }} These measures expanded the embargo to include all imports of products containing Cuban goods, even if the final products had been made or assembled outside Cuba. On August 3, 1962, the Foreign Assistance Act was amended to prohibit aid to any country that provides assistance to Cuba. On September 7, 1962, Kennedy formally expanded the Cuban embargo to include all Cuban trade, except for the non-subsidized sale of food and medicines.{{Cite web |title=Proclamation 3447—Embargo on All Trade with Cuba {{!}} The American Presidency Project |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-3447-embargo-all-trade-with-cuba |access-date=2024-09-20 |website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu}} Following the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, Kennedy imposed travel restrictions on February 8, 1963, and the Cuban Assets Control Regulations were issued on July 8, 1963, again under the Trading with the Enemy Act, in response to Cuba hosting Soviet nuclear weapons. These measures froze Cuban assets in the U.S. and consolidated existing restrictions.{{Cite web |title=Publication of Amended Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) and Related Frequently Asked Questions {{!}} Office of Foreign Assets Control |url=https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20240528 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=ofac.treasury.gov |language=en}}

{{see also|El Diálogo}}

The restrictions on U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba lapsed on March 19, 1977;{{cite book |last=Franklin |first=Jane |title=Cuba and the United States: A Chronological History |url=https://archive.org/details/cubaunitedstates0000fran/page/132 |access-date=September 28, 2014 |year=1997 |publisher=Ocean Press |isbn=9781875284924 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cubaunitedstates0000fran/page/132 132] }} the regulation was renewable every six months, but President Jimmy Carter did not renew it and the regulation on spending U.S. dollars in Cuba was lifted shortly afterwards.{{Cite web |url=http://www.historyofcuba.com/embargo/EmbargoTimeline.pdf |title=The Embargo against Cuba - A Timeline |access-date=November 26, 2016 |archive-date=August 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830064750/http://www.historyofcuba.com/embargo/EmbargoTimeline.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite web| url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a487629.pdf | title=Cuba: U.S. Restrictions on Travel and Legislative Initiatives | publisher=Congressional Research Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204224513/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a487629.pdf |archive-date=December 4, 2021 }} President Ronald Reagan reinstated the trade embargo on April 19, 1982, though it was now only restricted to business and tourist travel and did not apply to travel by U.S. government officials, employees of news or film making organizations, persons engaging in professional research, or persons visiting their close relatives. This has been modified subsequently with the present regulation, effective June 30, 2004, being the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (31 C.F.R. Part 515).{{cite web |url=http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr;sid=fb4974a82c28f07b7b95587729bf21e1;rgn=div5;view=text;node=31%3A3.1.1.1.3;idno=31;cc=ecfr |title=Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 515 |access-date=September 30, 2012 |archive-date=September 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925002435/http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/actions/20040616.html |title=Recent OFAC Actions |publisher=Office of Foreign Assets Control, United States Department of the Treasury |date=June 16, 2004 |access-date=November 5, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061102043211/http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/actions/20040616.html |archive-date=November 2, 2006 |url-status=dead }}

The current regulation does not prohibit travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba per se, but it makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to have transactions (spend money or receive gifts) in Cuba under most circumstances without a U.S. government Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued license.{{cite web |url=http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/programs/cuba/gls/cuba_gl.pdf |access-date=May 30, 2008 |publisher=Office of Foreign Assets Control |title=Cuban Assets Control Regulations |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528150713/http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/programs/cuba/gls/cuba_gl.pdf |archive-date=May 28, 2008 |url-status=dead }} Since even paying unavoidable airfare ticket taxes into a Cuban airport would violate this transaction law, it is effectively impossible for ordinary tourists to visit Cuba without breaking the monetary transaction rule.{{Cite web |date=January 1, 2024 |title=May the U.S. dollar be used to conduct transactions in Cuba or with Cuban nationals? |url=https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/736 |access-date=2025-01-26 |website=U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control |language=en |quote=31 CFR § 515.542}}

{{Further|Cuban Democracy Act|Helms–Burton Act}}

The embargo was reinforced in October 1992 by the Cuban Democracy Act and in 1996 by the Cuban Liberty and Democracy Solidarity Act (known as the Helms–Burton Act) which penalizes foreign companies that do business in Cuba by preventing them from doing business in the U.S. The Helms-Burton Act further restricted U.S. citizens from doing commerce in or with Cuba, and mandated restrictions on giving public or private assistance to any successor government unless and until certain claims against the Cuban government were met. The key sponsor of the Cuban Democracy Act, Democrat Robert Torricelli, stated that the legislation would "wreck havoc on that island."{{Cite web |title=The politics behind Clinton's Cuba policy |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-08-30-1994242173-story.html |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Baltimore Sun|date=August 30, 1994 }}{{Unbalanced opinion|date=October 2023}} Justification provided for these restrictions was that these companies were trafficking in stolen U.S. properties, and should, thus., be excluded from the United States.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} President Barack Obama tried to lift the embargo, but Congress did not allow it.{{Cite web |date=2014-12-17 |title=Statement by the President on Cuba Policy Changes |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/12/17/statement-president-cuba-policy-changes |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=White House |language=en}} The European Union criticized the Helms-Burton Act because it felt that the U.S. was dictating how other nations ought to conduct their trade and challenged it on that basis. The E.U. eventually dropped its challenge in favor of negotiating a solution.{{cite news | date = April 22, 1998 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/81461.stm | title = EU suspends challenge against controversial US law | publisher = BBC News | access-date =October 29, 2006 }}

After the Cuban military shot down two airplanes operated by Hermanos al Rescate (Brothers to the Rescue) in 1996, killing three Americans and a U.S. resident, a bi-partisan coalition in the U.S. Congress approved the Helms–Burton Act.{{Cite web |last=Crossette |first=Barbara |date=July 27, 1996 |title=U.N. Won't Punish Cuba in Downing of Planes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/27/us/un-won-t-punish-cuba-in-downing-of-planes.html |access-date=November 5, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} The Title III of this law also states that any non-U.S. company that "knowingly traffics in property in Cuba confiscated without compensation from a U.S. person" can be subjected to litigation and that company's leadership can be barred from entry into the United States. Sanctions may also be applied to non-U.S. companies trading with Cuba. This restriction also applies to maritime shipping, as ships docking at Cuban ports are not allowed to dock at U.S. ports for six months. This title includes waiver authority, so that the President might suspend its application. The waiver must be renewed every six months and traditionally was until U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019.{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1345216431 |title=Sanctions as War: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives on American Geo-Economic Strategy |date= March 7, 2023|publisher= Haymarket Books|isbn=978-1-64259-812-4 |location= |pages=136 |oclc=1345216431|last1=Davis |first1=Stuart }}

In response to pressure from some American farmers and agribusiness, the embargo was relaxed by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act, which was passed by Congress in October 2000 and signed by President Bill Clinton. The relaxation allowed the sale of agricultural goods and medicine to Cuba for humanitarian reasons. Although Cuba initially declined to engage in such trade (having even refused U.S. food aid in the past, seeing it as a half-measure serving U.S. interests),{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/168987.stm|title=Cuba to reject US aid|publisher=BBC|date=September 11, 1998 }} the Cuban government began to allow the purchase of food from the U.S. as a result of Hurricane Michelle in November 2001.{{Cite web |agency=Associated Press |date=November 1, 2001 |title=Cuba Braces for Impact of Hurricane Michelle |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/04/world/cuba-braces-for-impact-of-hurricane-michelle.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} In some tourist spots across the island, American brands such as Coca-Cola can be purchased. Ford tankers refuel planes in airports and some computers use Microsoft software.{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displayStory.cfm?story_id=11920925 |title=Patchy blockade|publisher=The Economist|date=August 14, 2008 }} The origin of the financing behind such goods is not always clear. The goods often come from third parties based in countries outside the U.S., even if the product being dealt originally has U.S. shareholders or investors.{{Cite web|url=http://www.autentico.org/oa09537.php|title=U.S. goods, people, cash pour into Cuba|website=www.autentico.org}}

{{main|Cuban thaw}}

File:Barack Obama and Raúl Castro at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana, Cuba 03.21.16.jpg and Raúl Castro at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana, 2016]]

In April 2009, President Barack Obama first attempted to warm relations by easing the U.S. travel ban, allowing Cuban-Americans to travel freely to Cuba.{{cite news| url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/13/some-cuba-travel-restrict_n_186197.html | work=Huffington Post | title=Obama Lifting Cuba Travel Restrictions | date=April 13, 2009 }}{{cite news| url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/memorandum-promoting-democracy-and-human-rights-cuba | work=whitehouse.gov | title= Memorandum: Promoting Democracy and Human Rights in Cuba | via=National Archives | date=April 13, 2009 }} Ana Cecilia became the first officially approved ship to sail in July 2012 from Miami to Cuba.{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2012/07/20127147196482238.html |title=Cuba receives first US shipment in 50 years - Americas |publisher=Al Jazeera English |access-date=December 6, 2013}}{{cite web|author=Chris Arsenault |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/07/2012716113551153900.html |title=US aid ship in Cuba: Ending the embargo? - Features |publisher=Al Jazeera English |access-date=December 6, 2013}} Two years later, in 2014, the Obama administration announced its intention to formally re-establish relations with Cuba and later completed a prisoner exchange.{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/17/world/americas/cuba-sanctions.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0 | title=How America's Relationship With Cuba Will Change| website=The New York Times| date=December 17, 2014| last1=Parlapiano| first1=Alicia}}[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30516740 Obama hails 'new chapter' in US-Cuba ties], BBC News, December 17, 2014[http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/17/politics/obama-cuba-castro-relations/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 Obama: Isolating Cuba hasn't worked], Alexandra Jaffe and Elise Labott, CNN, December 17, 2014 President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro met on April 11, 2015, the first meeting in over 50 years.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32602923 | title=US approves ferry service between Cuba and Florida| work=BBC News| date=May 6, 2015}}{{cite web | url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/tourism/fl-havana-ferry-approval-20150505-story.html | title=US approves ferry service to Cuba by four Florida companies}} On May 29, 2015, the U.S. removed Cuba from its designated list of state sponsors of terrorism on May 29, 2015, later re-adding it on January 12, 2021.{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2015/257519.htm | title=Country Reports on Terrorism 2015, Chapter 2. Country Reports: Western Hemisphere Overview|access-date=June 4, 2016|website=U.S. Department of State}}{{in lang|fr}} [https://ijsbergmagazine.com/international/article/14183-un-nouveau-chapitre-souvre-entre-les-etats-unis-et-cuba/ « Un « nouveau chapitre » s'ouvre entre les Etats-Unis et Cuba »] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218093615/https://ijsbergmagazine.com/international/article/14183-un-nouveau-chapitre-souvre-entre-les-etats-unis-et-cuba/ |date=December 18, 2014 }}, Yann Schreiber, avec Camille Grange et Antoine Boyet, Ijsberg Magazine, 17 décembre 2014{{Cite web |last=Havana |first=U. S. Embassy |date=2021-01-11 |title=U.S. Announces Designation of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism |url=https://cu.usembassy.gov/u-s-announces-designation-of-cuba-as-a-state-sponsor-of-terrorism/ |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=U.S. Embassy in Cuba |language=en-US}}{{cite web | url=https://www.state.gov/reports/country-reports-on-terrorism-2021/cuba | title=Cuba }} U.S. banks then were temporarily allowed to open accredited accounts in Cuban banks.{{cite web |url= http://www.pwc.com/en_US/us/financial-services/regulatory-services/publications/assets/2014-cuba-sanctions.pdf|title= First take: Key points from the President's announcement on Cuba Sanctions |publisher= PwC Financial Services Regulatory Practice, December 2014}}{{cite press release |title=Reaching Out to the Cuban People |date=January 14, 2011 |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/14/reaching-out-cuban-people |via=National Archives |work=whitehouse.gov}}

Relations officially established on July 20, 2015, with increased travel licenses, amended civil aviation and commercial passenger aircraft regulations, and normalized import-export license requirements announced in September.{{cite web | url=https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/policy-guidance/country-guidance/sanctioned-destinations/cuba | title=US Department of Commerce guidance on Cuba}} In February 2016, the U.S. agreed to allow two American men to build a $5-10 million tractor factory.{{Cite web|title = The Obama administration has approved the first U.S. factory in Cuba in more than half a century, allowing a pair of former software engineers to build a plant assembling as many as 1,000 small tractors a year|url = https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2016-02-15/apnewsbreak-us-oks-first-factory-in-cuba-since-revolution|website = U.S. News & World Report|date = February 15, 2016|access-date = February 15, 2016}} The deal was later disallowed by Cuban authorities because factory ownership is illegal in Cuba.{{Cite web|title = U.S. OK's first factory in Cuba since revolution|agency=Associated Press| first= Michael | last = Weissenstein | url = http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/nation-world/world/article60440516.html|website = thenewstribune|access-date = February 15, 2016}}{{cite web| url = https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article125450659.html| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170110135739/http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article125450659.html| archive-date = 2017-01-10| title = Cuban American investor Saul Berenthal loses bid for business plan in Cuba {{!}} Miami Herald| website = Miami Herald}} In his final eight days in office, Obama formally discontinued the wet feet, dry feet policy, halting all illegal immigration from Cuba in an effort to promote legal alternatives.{{cite web|last1=Obama|title=Statement by the President on Cuban Immigration Policy|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/12/statement-president-cuban-immigration-policy|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|date=January 12, 2017 |access-date=January 12, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Whitefield|first1=Mimi|title=Obama ending 'wet foot, dry foot' Cuban immigration policy|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article126202999.html|work=Miami Herald|date=January 12, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Gomez|first1=Alan|title=Obama to end 'wet foot, dry foot' policy for Cubans|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/01/12/obama-ends-wet-foot-dry-foot-policy-cubans/96505172/|work=USA Today|date=January 12, 2017}}

On November 8, 2017, it was announced that President Trump's administration had enacted new rules which would re-enforce the business and travel restrictions which were loosened by the Obama administration and would go into effect on November 9.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-pol-essential-washington-updates-u-s-sets-new-restrictions-on-business-1510154085-htmlstory.html|title=U.S. sets new restrictions on business ties and travel to Cuba|first=Tracy|last=Wilkinson|website=Los Angeles Times|date=April 14, 2018 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/ct-us-cuba-travel-restrictions-20171108-story.html|title=U.S. tightens travel rules to Cuba, blacklists many businesses|first=Josh|last=Lederman|website=chicagotribune.com|access-date=April 22, 2019|archive-date=April 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422150935/https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/ct-us-cuba-travel-restrictions-20171108-story.html|url-status=dead}} In 2019, ExxonMobil, the largest American energy producer, sued the Cuban government for their theft of U.S. oil assets in the 1960s. In September 2019, the U.S. tightened restrictions on Cuba by limiting U.S. remittances to Cuba and further closing the country's access to the U.S. financial system.{{Cite web |title=United States Restricts Remittances and "U-Turn" Transactions to Cuba |url=https://2017-2021.state.gov/united-states-restricts-remittances-and-u-turn-transactions-to-cuba/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |website=United States Department of State |language=en-US}} Immediately following Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism in January 2021, the State Department launched new political sanctions against Cuba's support of Venezuela and their president, Nicolás Maduro.{{Cite web |last=Goodman |first=Joshua |date=2021-01-11 |title=Trump hits Cuba with new sanctions in waning days |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-hits-cuba-with-new-terrorism-sanctions-in-waning-days |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=PBS News |language=en-us}} That month the U.S. Treasury additionally sanctioned the Cuban Ministry of Interior for human rights abuse in Cuba.{{Cite web |last=Havana |first=U. S. Embassy |date=2021-01-15 |title=United States Places Global Magnitsky Sanctions on the Cuban Ministry of Interior and Its Minister |url=https://cu.usembassy.gov/united-states-places-global-magnitsky-sanctions-on-the-cuban-ministry-of-interior-and-its-minister/#:~:text=Today,%20the%20United%20States%20is,Magnitsky%20Human%20Rights%20Accountability%20Act. |access-date=2024-09-20 |website=U.S. Embassy in Cuba |language=en-US}}

File:2021 Cuban government protest in Naples Florida.jpg, 2021]]

In July 2021, under President Joe Biden, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Cuba's domestic police force and on two of Cuba's leaders in response to political violence related to the 2021 Cuban protests.{{Cite news |last1=Mason |first1=Jeff |last2=Holland |first2=Steve |date=2021-07-31 |title=U.S. issues new Cuba sanctions, Biden promises more to come |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/biden-meet-cuban-american-leaders-amid-calls-tougher-action-havana-2021-07-30/ |access-date=2022-06-22}} Cuba attempted to embargo the U.S. by banning U.S. cash deposits at Cuban banks in 2021 but had to reverse the ban due to economic distress in 2023.{{Cite news |last=Buschschlüter |first=Vanesa |date=2023-04-11 |title=Cuba lifts ban on cash deposits in US dollars at banks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-65230672 |access-date=2024-09-15 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} The U.S. government eased select financial sanctions against companies that serve Cuban interests but have no link to the Cuban government in 2024.{{Cite news |last=DeYoung |first=Karen |date=2024-05-28 |title=Biden administration eases some economic restrictions on Cuba |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/28/us-cuba-sanctions-biden-trump/ |access-date=2024-09-15 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}} President Biden authorized additional sanctions against Cuba during the 2024 Cuban protests which caused further diplomatic strain with Cuba's president Miguel Díaz-Canel.{{Cite web |last=Sesin |first=Carmen |date=2024-03-19 |title=Cuba's president blasts 'interventionist' U.S. amid protests over shortages |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuban-president-miguel-diaz-canel-blasts-interventionist-us-protests-s-rcna144122 |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=NBC News |language=en}} President Díaz-Canel was joined by former president Raúl Castro in a protest with "tens of thousands of Cubans" against the U.S. embargo in December following the re-election of President Trump.{{Cite web |last=Acosta |first=Nelson |date=December 20, 2024 |title=Cuba stages protest at US embassy over sanctions |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cuba-stages-protest-us-embassy-over-sanctions-2024-12-20/ |access-date=January 9, 2025 |website=Reuters}}

The U.S. government significantly tightened its economic sanctions against Cuba in January 2025, with the re-election of President Trump, orienting around a "total pressure" strategy, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.{{Cite web |last=Beeton |first=Daniel |date=2025-01-14 |title=Biden Decision to Remove Trump-Pompeo Sanctions Targeting Cuba Should Be Welcomed, Experts Say |url=https://cepr.net/newsroom/biden-decision-to-remove-trump-pompeo-sanctions-targeting-cuba-should-be-welcomed-experts-say/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=Center for Economic and Poly Research |language=en-US}} In addition to re-designating the island as a state sponsor of terrorism for a third time, the State Department announced further sanctions against Cuban military contractors and further restricted Cuba's access to the U.S. dollar.{{Cite web |last=Eimil |first=Eric |date=2025-01-21 |title=Trump quickly puts Cuba back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism |url=https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/01/20/donald-trump-inauguration-day-news-updates-analysis/a-quick-reversal-on-cuba-00199531 |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=POLITICO |language=en}} U.S. Homeland Security and Coast Guard soon thereafter restricted immigration of economic refugees from Cuba, along with Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.{{Cite news |last=Aleaziz |first=Hamed |date=2025-01-21 |title=Trump Moves to End Entry Program for Migrants From 4 Nations |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/us/politics/migrant-flights-us-trump-program.html |access-date=2025-01-21 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The U.S. re-activiated Title III of the Helms–Burton Act, an international deterrent against foreign investment in Cuba.{{Cite news |last1=Kanno-Youngs |first1=Zolan |last2=Robles |first2=Frances |date=2025-01-14 |title=Biden Will Remove Cuba From List of State Sponsors of Terrorism |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/14/us/politics/biden-cuba.html |access-date=2025-01-15 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Rubio |first=Marco |date=January 31, 2025 |title=Restoring a Tough U.S.-Cuba Policy |url=https://www.state.gov/restoring-a-tough-u-s-cuba-policy/ |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=United States Department of State |language=en |quote=In a January 29 letter to the appropriate Congressional committees, I withdrew the prior administration’s letter regarding the LIBERTAD Act. The Trump Administration is committed to U.S. persons having the ability to bring private rights of action involving trafficked property confiscated by the Cuban regime.}} The U.S. government halted foreign aid funding for Cuba-focused media outlets and expanded visa restrictions related to Cuban forced labor exportation in February 2025.{{Cite news |last=Sheerwood |first=David |date=February 10, 2025 |title=US-funded Cuban media in limbo after Trump orders USAID closed |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-funded-cuban-media-limbo-after-trump-orders-usaid-closed-2025-02-10/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250215002011/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-funded-cuban-media-limbo-after-trump-orders-usaid-closed-2025-02-10/ |archive-date=2025-02-15 |access-date=2025-03-04 |work=Reuters |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Jackson |first=Katharine |date=February 26, 2025 |title=US expands visa restrictions on Cubans tied to labor export program |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-expands-visa-restrictions-cubans-tied-labor-export-program-2025-02-25/ |access-date=March 4, 2025 |website=Reuters}}

File:Cuba-oil-production.png during an extended period of economic distress. ]]

The economic impact of the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba is comprehensive and impacts all sectors of the Cuban economy.{{Cite book |author=U.S. International Trade Commission |title=The Economic Impact of U.S. Sanctions With Respect to Cuba |date=February 2001 |publisher=U.S. International Trade Commission |location=Washington, DC |pages=332–414}} The United Nations estimated in 2023 the total economic damage to the Cuban economy to be in the "trillions of dollars" since inception.{{Cite web |date=November 13, 2023 |title=Economic, Commercial Embargo Imposed by United States Against Cuba Harmful, Violates UN Charter, Speakers Underline in General Assembly |url=https://press.un.org/en/2023/ga12552.doc.htm |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=United Nations Press Office |quote=Meetings Coverage and Press Releases}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1345216431 |title=SANCTIONS AS WAR : anti-imperialist perspectives on american geo-economic. |date=2023 |publisher=HAYMARKET BOOKS |isbn=978-1-64259-812-4 |location=[S.l.] |oclc=1345216431}} A 2015 report in Al Jazeera estimated that the embargo had cost the Cuban economy $1.1 trillion in the 55 years since its inception, once inflation is taken into account.{{cite web |last1=Kennedy |first1=Robert |date=17 June 2015 |title=Unblocking long-suffering Cuba |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2015/6/17/el-bloqueo-55-years-of-obstructing-the-cuban-people |access-date=22 July 2021 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}} The Cuban government assessed the cost in 2018 to be around $933 billion since inception.{{Cite web |last=Nahrsted |first=Jan |date=May 1, 2021 |title=US economic sanctions on Cuba: An analysis of the reasons for their maintenance |url=https://www.ipe-berlin.org/fileadmin/institut-ipe/Dokumente/Working_Papers/ipe_working_paper_162_2.pdf |access-date=January 29, 2025 |website=Institute for International Political Economy Berlin}} In 2009, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimated that the embargo costs the U.S. economy $1.2 billion per year in lost sales and exports, while the Cuban government estimates that the embargo has cost the island itself $753 million annually.{{cite web |last=Pepper |first=Margot |date=March–April 2009 |title=The Costs of the Embargo: The 47-year-old blockade now costs the United States far more than it costs Cuba. |url=http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2009/0309pepper.html |access-date=May 1, 2009 |publisher=Dollars & Sense}}{{Cite web |date=June 2016 |title=Informe de Cuba – Sobre la resolución 70/5 de la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas, titulada "Necesidad de poner fin al bloqueo económico, comercial y financiero impuesto por los Estados Unidos de América contra Cuba" |trans-title=Report of Cuba – On resolution 70/5 of the United Nations General Assembly, entitled "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba" |url=http://www.cubavsbloqueo.cu/sites/default/files/InformeBloqueo2016ES.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114053901/http://www.cubavsbloqueo.cu/sites/default/files/InformeBloqueo2016ES.pdf |archive-date=November 14, 2019 |access-date=April 24, 2017 |language=es}} In 2001, the U.S. International Trade Commission found that, from 1996 and 1998, without the embargo, Cuban imports to the U.S. would be worth $658 million.{{Cite journal |author=U.S. International Trade Commission |date=February 2001 |title=The Economic Impact of U.S. Sanctions With Respect to Cuba |url=https://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub3398.pdf |journal=U.S. International Trade Commission Investigation |volume=Investigation No. 332-413 |page=390 |via=U.S. International Trade Commission Website}} In 2002, the U.S.-based, anti-embargo Cuba Policy Foundation estimated that the embargo costs the U.S. economy $3.6 billion per year in economic output.{{cite web |last=Luxner |first=Larry |date=September 1, 2002 |title=Sally Cowal: from ambassador to anti-embargo activist |url=http://www.articlearchives.com/government/elections-politics-lobbying/801947-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512003637/http://www.articlearchives.com/government/elections-politics-lobbying/801947-1.html |archive-date=May 12, 2012 |access-date=May 1, 2009 |publisher=Cuba News |df=mdy-all}} The U.N. assessed the damage to the Cuban economy from 2022 to 2023 to be at $4.87 billion.

The U.S. government has pursued extraterritorial measures to enforce its embargo. Cuban ambassador Ricardo Alarcón cited 27 recent cases of trade contracts interrupted by U.S. pressure to the U.N. in 1991. British Petroleum was seemingly dissuaded by U.S. authorities from investing in offshore oil exploration in Cuba despite initially expressing interest. In 1992, the U.S. State Department discouraged firms like Royal Dutch Shell and Clyde Petroleum from investing in Cuba.Cuba in the International System: Normalization and integration, 1995 - editors Archibald Ritter and John Kirk, St. Martin's Press {{ISBN|0-312-12653-0}} - article by Andrew Zimbalist In 1998, U.S. officials attributed Cuba's economic penury not as a result of the embargo, but instead its unwillingness to liberalize its own economy and substantial debts owed to its Japanese, European, and Latin American trading partners.{{Cite web |last=Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information |first=Bureau of Public Affairs |title=Zenith and Eclipse: A Comparative Look at Socio-Economic Conditions in Pre-Castro and Present Day Cuba |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/wha/ci/14776.htm |website=2001-2009.state.gov}}

Economic sanctions against Cuba has had disproportionate effects on its trade. According to a University of Texas at Austin undergraduate dissertation submitted to the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, between 1954 and 1959, trade between Cuba and the U.S. was at a higher level than what it was in 2003, with 65% of Cuba's total exports sent to the U.S. while American imports totaled 74% of Cuba's international purchases. After the formal implementation of the embargo and the passage of Proclamation 3355, there was a 95% decrease in Cuba's sugar quota, which canceled roughly 700,000 tons of the 3,119,655 tons previously allotted to the United States.{{Cite journal |last=Caraway |first=Rose |year=2004 |title=Post-embargo Cuba: Economic Implications and the Future of Socialism |url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/etext/llilas/ilassa/2004/caraway.pdf |journal=Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies |page=30}} A year later, Cuba's sugar quota was reduced to zero when President Eisenhower issued Proclamation 3383. This substantially affected Cuba's total exports, as Cuba was one of the world's leading sugar exporters at the time.

In 1989, with the collapse of the Soviet bloc, Cuba witnessed its most devastating economic crises. Cuba's GDP plummeted 34% and trade between the nations apart from the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) declined by 56%. Between 1989 and 1992 (the Special Period), the termination of trade partnerships with the Soviet bloc caused the total value of Cuba's exports to fall by 61% and imports to drop by approximately 72%.{{Cite book |last=Spadoni |first=Paolo |title=Failed sanctions: why the U.S. embargo against Cuba could never work |publisher=University Press of Florida |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8130-3515-4 |location=Gainesville |pages=xvi}} International economists believed the Cuban government would fall along with the Soviet Union but Cuba instituted a campaign of macroeconomic adjustment and liberalization instead, which provided significant economic recovery.

The U.S. government has implemented significant restrictions on financial activity within Cuba. The U.S. treasury holds over $6 billion worth of financial claims against the Cuban government according to the U.S. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission.{{cite web |title=U.S. Claims Against Cuba Buyer Beware |url=http://jasonpoblete.com/2008/08/04/us-claims-against-cuba-buyer-beware/}} The Poblete DC, 08/04/08{{cite web |date=May 21, 2012 |title=Cuba's Economic Sanctions and Property Rights |url=http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/FOCUS_Web/Issue165.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071206/http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/FOCUS_Web/Issue165.htm |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=June 15, 2012 |work=Focus |issue=165}} The Cuban government is required to pay cash for all food imports from the U.S., as credit is not allowed.{{cite news |date=September 2, 2009 |title=End embargo on Cuba, US is urged |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8232907.stm |access-date=May 26, 2010 |publisher=BBC News}} Cuba is heavily dependent on U.S. remittances from family members and access to U.S. dollar deposits influences financial decision-making on the island.{{Cite web |last=Frank |first=Marc |date=January 24, 2025 |title=As Cuba-US relations sour, the island needs dollars more than ever |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cuba-us-relations-sour-island-needs-dollars-more-than-ever-2025-01-24/ |website=Reuters}} Limited access to the U.S. dollar and financial system has exacerbated wealth inequality in Cuba and forced involuntary dollarization on the island. Cuban banks are banned from operating within the United States.{{Cite web |last=(OFAC) |first=Office of Foreign Asset Control |date=November 1, 2017 |title=Cuba Sanctions |url=https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/topic/1541 |website=United States Department of the Treasury |quote=Cuban banks are not generally licensed to open such accounts at U.S. banks. See note to 31 CFR § 515.584(a).}}

Cuba conducts international financing with many countries, including many U.S. allies; U.S.-based companies, and companies that do business with the U.S. which trade in Cuba do so at the risk of U.S. sanctions.{{cite web |title=European Union, Trade in goods with Cuba |url=https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/isdb_results/factsheets/country/details_cuba_en.pdf |access-date=July 9, 2019 |publisher=European Commission}}{{cite web |date=January 16, 2013 |title=It's Time For The U.S. To End Its Senseless Embargo Of Cuba |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/01/16/its-time-for-the-u-s-to-end-its-senseless-embargo-of-cuba/ |access-date=March 21, 2016 |work=Forbes}} The U.S. has threatened to stop financial aid to other countries if they trade non-food items with Cuba. The U.S.'s attempts to do so have been vocally condemned by the United Nations General Assembly as an extraterritorial measure that contravenes "the sovereign equality of States, non-intervention in their internal affairs and freedom of trade and navigation as paramount to the conduct of international affairs".{{cite web |title=Speakers Denounce Cuban Embargo as 'Sad Echo' of Failed Cold War Politics; General Assembly, for Twentieth Year, Demands Lifting of Economic Blockade |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/ga11162.doc.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026035155/http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2011/ga11162.doc.htm |archive-date=October 26, 2011 |access-date=December 6, 2013 |publisher=Un.org}}

The embargo has been criticized for its effects on food, clean water, medicine, and other economic needs of the Cuban population.{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1345216431 |title=Sanctions as War: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives on American Geo-Economic Strategy |date=2023 |publisher= Haymarket Books|isbn=978-1-64259-812-4 |location= |pages=144 |oclc=1345216431|last1=Davis |first1=Stuart }}American Association for World Health. "Denial of Food and Medicine: The Impact Of The U.S. Embargo On The Health And Nutrition In Cuba." March 1997. Criticism has come from both Fidel Castro and Raúl Castro, citizens and groups from within Cuba, and international organizations and leaders. U.S. diplomat Lester D. Mallory wrote an internal memo on April 6, 1960, arguing in favor of an embargo to "(make) the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government".{{cite book |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499 |title=Foreign Relations of the United States |chapter=499. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Mallory) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Rubottom) |author=Lester D. Mallory |author-link=Lester D. Mallory |date=6 April 1960 |location=Washington |publisher=Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute - United States Department of State |access-date=13 May 2022 |quote=If the above are accepted or cannot be successfully countered, it follows that every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba. If such a policy is adopted, it should be the result of a positive decision which would call forth a line of action which, while as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.}}{{cite book |url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789004501201/BP000010.xml |first=Helen |last=Yaffe |title=Sanctions as War |chapter=US Sanctions Cuba 'to Bring About Hunger, Desperation and the Overthrow of the Government' |series=Studies in Critical Social Sciences |date=9 December 2021 |access-date=17 May 2022 |pages=129–147 |isbn=9789004501201 |doi=10.1163/9789004501201_009 |s2cid=245412919 }}

The embargo has been linked to shortages of medical supplies and soap which have resulted in a series of medical crises and heightened levels of infectious diseases.{{cite journal|last=Barry|first=Michèle|title=Effect of the U.S. Embargo and Economic Decline on Health in Cuba|journal=Annals of Internal Medicine|volume=132|issue=2|date=January 18, 2000|url=http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/132/2/151.pdf|doi=10.7326/0003-4819-132-2-200001180-00010|pages=151–4|pmid=10644277|s2cid=8278747}}{{cite journal |last=Garfield |first=R.|author2=Santana, S. |title=The impact of the economic crisis and the US embargo on health in Cuba|journal=American Journal of Public Health|volume=87|issue=1|pages=15–20|date=January 1997|doi=10.2105/AJPH.87.1.15|pmid=9065219|pmc=1380757}} Medical scholars have also linked the embargo to epidemics of specific diseases, including neurological disorders and blindness caused by poor nutrition.{{cite news|last=Kirkpatrick|first=Anthony F.|title=Role of the USA in shortage of food and medicine in Cuba|publisher=The Lancet|issue=348|pages=1489–1491|date=November 30, 1996|url=http://www.cubasolidarity.net/Kirkpatrick-lancet.pdf}} An article written in 1997 suggests malnutrition and disease resulting from increased food and medicine prices have affected men and the elderly in particular, due to Cuba's rationing system which gives preferential treatment to women and children. In 1997, the American Association for World Health stated that the embargo contributed to malnutrition, poor water access, lack of access to medicine and other medical supplies and concluded that "a humanitarian catastrophe has been averted only because the Cuban government has maintained a high level of budgetary support for a health care system designed to deliver primary and preventative medicine to all its citizens." The AAWH found that travel restrictions embedded in the embargo have limited the amount of medical information that flows into Cuba from the United States. Since 2000, the embargo has explicitly excluded the acquisition of food and medicines.{{cite news|url= https://www.lanacion.com.ar/el-mundo/alberto-fernandez-exigio-su-fin-que-es-el-embargo-de-estados-unidos-a-cuba-y-que-impacto-tiene-nid13072021/|title= Alberto Fernández exigió su fin: qué es el embargo de Estados Unidos a Cuba y qué impacto tiene|trans-title=Alberto Fernandez demanded its end: what is the US embargo of Cuba and which is its impact|language=es|date=July 13, 2021|newspaper=La Nación|access-date=July 16, 2021|archive-date=July 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713154152/https://www.lanacion.com.ar/el-mundo/alberto-fernandez-exigio-su-fin-que-es-el-embargo-de-estados-unidos-a-cuba-y-que-impacto-tiene-nid13072021/|url-status= live}}

The severe effects of the U.S. embargo on the economic activity and political affairs of Cuba has led political scientists to classify the effort as a full-scale "blockade".{{Cite web |date=2022-11-03 |title=UN votes overwhelmingly to condemn US embargo of Cuba |url=https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-business-cuba-israel-europe-bf38ea2b62324cbd9ed3ce10905883d8 |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=AP News |language=en}} They claim that violations of the embargo are too harsh, citing the fact that violations often lead to severe sanctions. Academic Nigel White writes, "While the U.S. measures against Cuba do not amount to a blockade in a technical or formal sense, their cumulative effect is to put an economic stranglehold on the island, which not only prevents the U.S. intercourse but also effectively blocks commerce with other states, their citizens and companies." Political economist Jorge Antonio stated in 2000 that the effects of the embargo on the development of Cuba are likely negligible.{{cite journal |last1=Jorge |first1=Antonio |date=February 2000 |title=The U.S. Embargo and the Failure of the Cuban Economy |url=https://scholarship.miami.edu/esploro/outputs/journalArticle/The-US-Embargo-and-the-Failure/991031448080102976 |journal=ICCAS Occasional Paper Series |page=16 |access-date=21 October 2024}} His research concluded: "Under the real world of Castroism, however, the answer must be a terse one: none. The embargo has not harmed the Cuban economy. Cooperation between the U.S. and Cuba would have been impossible from the very beginning of the Revolution for legal, political, ideological, strategic, and economic reasons, not to mention others of a philosophical or moral character."

Former Central Bank of Cuba economist Pavel Vidal said "Reforms in Cuba do not depend on the embargo, and the embargo should be eliminated unilaterally, independently from reforms in Cuba. Both cause problems".{{cite news|last=Sesin|first=Carmen|date=July 13, 2021|title=Cuba's protests rocked the entire island. Here's why people flooded the streets.|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuba-exploded-protests-goes-us-embargo-pandemic-rcna1399|access-date=July 16, 2021|agency=NBC News|archive-date=July 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714220919/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuba-exploded-protests-goes-us-embargo-pandemic-rcna1399|url-status=live}} A 2009 report by Amnesty International found that the "Cuban embargo has had an adverse effect on human rights" and said that "states must take into account the effects that [imposed] sanctions may have on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights in the country affected".{{Cite web |date=2009-09-02 |title=Cuba: The US embargo against Cuba: Its impact on economic and social rights |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr25/007/2009/en/ |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=Amnesty International |language=en}} In Cuba, the embargo is commonly called {{lang|es|el bloqueo}} (the blockade), especially by the government and its supporters.{{cite web |title=515 - The President's News Conference November 20, 1962 |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKWHA-144.aspx |work=White House Audio Recordings, 1961-1963 |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum}}

Since the Trade Sanction Reform and Export Enhancement Act was enacted in 2000, the trade of food and medicine goods is excluded from the embargo. Complex licensing and regulatory requirements severely limit export of medicines, medical equipment and supplies, which contain anything produced or patented by the United States, to Cuba.{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=The US Embargo Against Cuba: Its Impact on Economic and Social Rights |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/amr250072009en.pdf |access-date=4 November 2023 |publisher=Amnesty International |quote=Under the TSRA, exports of food and agricultural products to Cuba remain regulated by the Department of Commerce and require a licence for export or re-export. The export of medicines and medical supplies continues to be severely limited. Although the TSRA contemplates the export of medicine, this legislation does not supersede the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 and therefore the necessity of a presidential certificate through on-site verifications remains in force.}}{{Cite web |last1=Oliver |first1=Isabella |last2=Nodarse Venancio |first2=Mariakarla |date=4 February 2022 |title=Understanding the Failure of the U.S. Embargo on Cuba |url=https://www.wola.org/analysis/understanding-failure-of-us-cuba-embargo/ |access-date=12 October 2023 |publisher=Washington Office on Latin America |quote=Its complex licensing requirements effectively prevent food, medicine, and medical equipment from reaching Cubans.}} In 2020, $176.8 million worth of goods were exported to Cuba from the U.S. and $14.9 million imported to the U.S. from Cuba.{{Cite web |last=Division |first=US Census Bureau Foreign Trade |title=Foreign Trade: Data |url=https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c2390.html |website=www.census.gov}}

File:Cuba-Florida map.jpg is 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Florida, 2006]]

The U.S. embargo has included travel restrictions for American tourists visiting the island since 1961. The U.S. government maintains a Level II Travel Advisory Alert for the island, cautioning citizens against legally traveling through Cuba due to crime.{{Cite web |date=January 5, 2024 |title=Cuba International Travel Information |url=https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Cuba.html |access-date=January 5, 2024 |website=United States Department of State |language=en |quote=Petty crime is a threat for tourists in Cuba. Also, violent crime, including armed robbery and homicide, sometimes occurs in Cuba.}} Federal law requires persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction to obtain a license to engage in any travel-related transactions pursuant to travel to, from, and within Cuba.{{Cite web |title=Traveling to Cuba |url=https://cu.usembassy.gov/services/traveling-to-cuba/ |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=U.S. Embassy in Cuba |language=en-US}} Transactions related solely to tourist travel are not licensable. The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) considers any visit of more than one day to be prima facie proof of violation.{{Cite web |date=September 23, 2020 |title=Sanctions against the Republic of Cuba |url=https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/topic/1541 |access-date=September 23, 2020 |website=United States Office of Foreign Asset Control |language=en}} OFAC also holds that U.S. citizens may not receive goods or services for free from any Cuban national, eliminating any attempts to circumvent the regulation based on that premise.

Spurred by a burgeoning interest in the assumed untapped product demand in Cuba, a growing number of free-marketers in Congress, backed by Western and Great Plains lawmakers who represent agribusiness, have tried each year since 2000 to water down or lift regulations preventing Americans from traveling to Cuba.{{Cite web |title=Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know |url=https://www.cfr.org/excerpt-cuba-what-everyone-needs-know |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=Council on Foreign Relations |language=en}} President George W. Bush threatened to veto such efforts which stalled the legislation during the 2000s.

U.S. nationals have circumvented the ban by traveling to Cuba from a different country, such as Mexico, The Bahamas, Canada, or Costa Rica.{{Cite web |date=2014-09-23 |title=2 New York men charged with violating Cuba trade embargo {{!}} ICE |url=https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/2-new-york-men-charged-violating-cuba-trade-embargo |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=www.ice.gov |language=en}} The practice opens U.S. citizens to a risk of prosecution and fines by the U.S. government if discovered. In 2006, the U.S. announced the creation of a task force that will more aggressively pursue violations of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, with severe penalties.{{cite web |date=October 10, 2006 |title=US tightens Cuba embargo enforcement |url=http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=146094 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061124202910/http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=146094 |archive-date=November 24, 2006 |access-date=November 5, 2006 |work=turkishpress.com |publisher=Agence France Presse}} Criminal penalties for violating the embargo range up to ten years in prison, $1 million in corporate fines, and $250,000 in individual fines; civil penalties up to $55,000 per violation.{{Cite web |date=2024-09-12 |title=Treasury Announces Civil Penalties for Cuba Travel Violations |url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/rr3083 |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=U.S. Department of the Treasury |language=en}}

File:Billboard_opposit_USA_interest_office.jpg, with the inscription, "Mister Imperialists, none of us fear you!", 2005]]

The embargo is formally opposed by multiple international organizations including: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch,{{cite web |date=January 19, 2011 |title=Cuba: A Step Forward on US Travel Regulations |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/01/19/cuba-step-forward-us-travel-regulations |access-date=January 5, 2014 |publisher=Human Rights Watch}} and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,{{cite web |title=IACHR Annual Report 2011 |url=https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/docs/annual/2011/Chap4Cuba.doc |access-date=January 5, 2014 |publisher=Inter-American Commission on Human Rights}} among others around the world.

The Helms-Burton Act has been the target of criticism from Canadian and European governments in particular, who object to what they say is the extraterritorial pretensions of a piece of legislation aimed at punishing non-U.S. corporations and non-U.S. investors who have economic interests in Cuba. The European Council has criticized the embargo as being extraterritorial and indirectly impacting the economic growth of European countries that have ties to Cuba, recommending WTO dispute settlement.{{cite web |title=Report on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on protecting against the effects of the application of certain legislation of certain third countries, and actions based thereon or resulting therefrom (COM(96)0420 - C4-0519/96 - 96/0217(CNS)) |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A4-1996-0329&language=EN}} European Parliament Official Report

The embargo has also faced criticism from a select faction of international trade advocates and business leaders.{{cite web |last=Chirinos |first=Fanny S. |date=March 30, 2006 |title=Bonilla calls for end to Cuba trade embargo |url=http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_4582172,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012195201/http://caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_4582172,00.html |archive-date=October 12, 2007 |access-date=October 22, 2006 |publisher=caller.com}} Cato Institute's Daniel Griswold called the embargo a failure, saying the economic sanctions have impoverished Cubans and "deprived Americans of their freedom to travel and has cost US farmers and other producers billions of dollars of potential exports."{{cite news |last=Griswold |first=Daniel |date=June 15, 2009 |title=The US embargo of Cuba is a Failure |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jun/15/cuba-us-trade-embargo-obama |access-date=April 7, 2016 |work=The Guardian |location=London}} Business leaders who have opposed the embargo include: James E. Perrella, Dwayne O. Andreas, and Peter Blyth.{{cite magazine |last1=Falk |first1=Pamela S. |date=April 29, 2016 |title=Eyes on Cuba: U.S. Business and the Embargo |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/51838/pamela-s-falk/eyes-on-cuba-us-business-and-the-embargo |magazine=Foreign Affairs}}

It has faced criticism from a variety of U.S. political figures since inception.{{cite web |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/201752 |date = June 22, 2009 | access-date=February 20, 2016| first= Moisés | last= Naím |title=The Havana Obsession: Why All Eyes are on a Bankrupt Island |website = Newsweek }} President Jimmy Carter called for an end to the embargo in 2002 saying the U.S. and Cuba were "trapped in a destructive state of belligerence."{{Cite news |last=Carter |first=Jimmy |date=2002-05-15 |title=Full text of Carter's speech |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/15/cuba1 |access-date=2025-01-26 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} George Shultz, who served as Secretary of State under Reagan, called the embargo "insane" in 2005.{{cite video |url=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1576985992050660771 |title=Charlie Rose interview with George Shultz |date=December 22, 2005 |publisher=Charlie Rose Inc. |people=George Shultz, Charlie Rose}} Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez criticized the embargo in 2009 calling it "a great farce" later stating that the "U.S. empire [is] alive and well, threatening us."{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/01/AR2009050103481.html |title=Chavez says Obama Must Prove Change After Handshake }} {{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} by Fabian Cambero, Reuters, May 1, 2009 During this time U.S. President Barack Obama discussed easing the embargo during his 2008 campaign for president,{{cite news |last1=Luo |first1=Michael |date=May 20, 2008 |title=McCain Attacks Obama on Cuba |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/us/politics/20cnd-mccain.html |access-date=April 1, 2016 |work=The New York Times}} though he promised to maintain it.{{cite news |last1=Zeleny |first1=Jeff |date=May 23, 2008 |title=Obama Discusses Cuba Policy |url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/obama-discusses-cuba-policy/ |access-date=April 1, 2016 |work=The New York Times}} In December 2014, he called the embargo a failure, asking Congress to enact legislation to lift it.{{cite press release |title=Statement by the President on Cuba Policy Changes |date=December 17, 2014 |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/12/17/statement-president-cuba-policy-changes |via=National Archives |access-date=April 1, 2016 |work=whitehouse.gov}} Secretary of State Hillary Clinton publicly shared the view that the embargo helps the Castros stay in power by enabling an anti-American narrative.{{cite news |author= |title=Castros sabotage ending U.S. Cuba embargo: Clinton |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa/castros-sabotage-ending-u-s-cuba-embargo-clinton-idUSTRE6385H220100409 |work=Reuters |date=April 9, 2010 |access-date=February 8, 2022}} The Latin America Working Group argues that pro-embargo Cuban-American exiles, whose votes are crucial in the U.S. state of Florida, have swayed many politicians to adopt views similar to their own.{{cite web |title=Ignored Majority – The Moderate Cuban-American Community |url=http://www.usaengage.org/storage/usaengage/Publications/2004_04_lawg_ignoredmajority.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327011953/http://www.usaengage.org/storage/usaengage/Publications/2004_04_lawg_ignoredmajority.pdf |archive-date=March 27, 2009}} In June 2011, George McGovern, the Democratic nominee for president in 1972, blamed "embittered Cuban exiles in Miami" for keeping the embargo alive.{{cite news |last=Beck |first=Margery A. |date=June 30, 2011 |title=George McGovern heading to Cuba to visit Castro |url=https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2011/jun/30/bc-ne-mcgovern-cuba/ |access-date=April 24, 2017 |agency=Associated Press}}

Humanitarian opposition of the embargo has persisted since the 1970s due to the strict restrictions the embargo imposes on Cubans. Pope John Paul II called for the end to the embargo during his 1979 pastoral visit to Mexico.{{cite news |url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1998/jan/25/pope-urges-catholics-to-speak-out-cuban-church |date=January 25, 1998 | work=Spokesman-Review |title= Pope Urges Catholics To Speak Out Cuban Church Must Take Stands For Freedom, Pontiff Says |first=Molly |last=Moore| agency=Washington Post }} Patriarch Bartholomew I called the embargo a "historic mistake" while visiting the island in 2004.{{cite web |url=http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles4/JacobseCubaVisit.php |title=Patriarch Bartholomew's Visit to Cuba: A Missed Opportunity for Human Rights |access-date=June 15, 2012 |archive-date=October 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191017111530/http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles4/JacobseCubaVisit.php |url-status=dead }} OrthodoxyToday.org: Rev. Johannes L. Jacobse. Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Minister Louis Farrakhan have also publicly opposed the embargo. The U.S. bishops called for an end to the embargo on Cuba, after Pope Benedict XVI's 2012 visit to the island.{{cite web |url=http://www.news.va/en/news/us-bishops-call-for-end-to-cuba-embargo |title=US bishops call for end to Cuba embargo |publisher=News.va |date=April 22, 2012 |access-date=June 9, 2012 |archive-date=February 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211183636/http://www.news.va/en/news/us-bishops-call-for-end-to-cuba-embargo |url-status=dead }}

Film director Michael Moore challenged the embargo by bringing 9/11 rescue workers in need of healthcare to Cuba to obtain subsidized health care.{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/weekinreview/27depalma.html |title= 'Sicko', Castro and the '120 Years Club' |access-date=August 17, 2008 |work=New York Times | first=Anthony | last=Depalma | date=May 27, 2007 }}

Political scientist William LeoGrande summarized that, while the embargo against Cuba is 'the oldest and most comprehensive U.S. economic sanctions regime against any country in the world ... [it] has never been effective at achieving its principal purpose: forcing Cuba's revolutionary regime out of power or bending it to Washington's will.'{{cite journal |last=LeoGrande |first=William M. |date=Winter 2015 |title=A Policy Long Past Its Expiration Date: US Economic Sanctions Against Cuba |journal=Social Research |volume=82 |issue=4 |pages=939–966 |issn=0037-783X |jstor=44282148}}

Since 1992, the UN General Assembly has passed a non-binding resolution every year, except for 2020, condemning the ongoing impact of the embargo and declaring it in violation of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law. There was no voting on this issue in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite web |date=June 23, 2021 |title=UN General Assembly calls for U.S. to end Cuba embargo for 29th consecutive year |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/06/1094612 |access-date=June 24, 2021 |website=UN News}}{{Cite web |title=A/71/L.3 - E - A/71/L.3 |url=https://undocs.org/A/71/L.3 |website=undocs.org}} Israel is the only country that routinely joins the U.S. in voting against the resolution.'With the lonely support of only one ally, Israel, Washington has insisted on continuing six decades of crippling boycott on trade with Cuba despite overwhelming condemnation of it in the UN for the past 19 years.' Hugh O'Shaughnessy,{{cite news |last=O'Shaughnessy |first=Hugh |date=February 11, 2012 |title='Young Castro steers Cuba to a new revolution,' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/younger-castro-steers-cuba-to-a-new-revolution-6792209.html |access-date=February 12, 2012 |work=The Independent |location=London}} Other countries that voted against the resolution in the past include Romania in 1992, Albania and Paraguay in 1993, Uzbekistan from 1995 to 1997, Marshall Islands from 2000 to 2007, Palau from 2004 to 2009 then once in 2012, and Brazil in 2019. 187 countries voted in favor of the resolution in 2024, with only the United States and Israel voting against it and Moldova abstaining.{{Cite news |date=30 October 2024 |title=UN once more calls on US to change course on Cuba |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/un-once-more-calls-us-change-course-cuba-2024-10-30/ |access-date=31 October 2024 |publisher=Reuters}}

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| quote = We strongly support [Cuba's pursuit] of a future with respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Approximately 1,000 unjustly detained political prisoners remain behind bars in Cuba – more than at any point in Cuba’s recent history. [Cuba] has delayed responding to several UN requests by special procedures [mandating] humanitarian inspectors in Cuba [...] some of these requests have remained pending for more than 10 years.

Sanctions are one element of our broader effort to advance democracy and promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cuba.

| source = —Paul Folmsbee, United States Mission to the United Nations, October 2024{{Cite web |last=Folmsbee |first=Paul |date=2024-10-30 |title=Explanation of Vote After the Vote on a UN General Assembly Resolution on the Cuba Embargo |url=https://usun.usmission.gov/explanation-of-vote-after-the-vote-on-a-un-general-assembly-resolution-on-the-cuba-embargo-3/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=United States Mission to the United Nations |language=en-US}}

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A 2008 USA Today/Gallup Poll indicated that Americans believed that diplomatic relations "should" be re-established with Cuba, with 61% in favor and 31% opposed.{{cite web|url= http://www.pollingreport.com/cuba.htm |title= Polling Report on Cuba, AP/Ipsos Poll, Jan 30 – Feb 1, 2007 |publisher= Pollingreport.com |access-date= June 15, 2012 }} In January 2012, an Angus Reid Public Opinion poll showed that 57% of Americans called for ending the U.S. travel ban with Cuba, with 27% disagreeing and 16% not sure.{{cite web |url= http://angusreid.org/most-americans-willing-to-re-establish-ties-with-cuba/ |title= Most Americans Willing to Re-establish Ties with Cuba |publisher= Angus-reid.com |access-date= December 6, 2013 |archive-date= March 21, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170321104312/http://angusreid.org/most-americans-willing-to-re-establish-ties-with-cuba/ |url-status= dead }}

The Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University has conducted thirteen polls (from 1991 to 2020) of Cuban Americans in Dade County, Florida.{{cite web |publisher=Florida International University |title=FIU Cuba Poll |access-date=2021-09-01 |url=https://cri.fiu.edu/research/cuba-poll/ |archive-date=September 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903202504/https://cri.fiu.edu/research/cuba-poll/ |url-status=dead }} In 1991, support for the embargo was 67.9% (5.5% don't know) shortly after the end of the Cold War, bottoming out at 31.6% (9.4% don't know) in 2016 during the Cuban thaw, and back up to 54% (8% don't know) in 2020 after relations with Cuba deteriorated. In 2024, the Cuban Research Institute found high levels of support for the embargo among Cuban-American voters in southern Florida, reporting that 55% of Cuban-American voters were in favor of the embargo's continuation with 43% preferring a more humanitarian sanctions program.{{Cite web |last=Baro |first=Madeline |title=FIU Cuba Poll 2024: Cuban American voters’ support for Trump at an all-time high |url=https://news.fiu.edu/2024/fiu-cuba-poll-2024-cuban-american-voters-support-for-trump-at-an-all-time-high |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=FIU News |language=en}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• ABCD line, sanctions against Japan
• List of vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions
• Sanctions against Iraq
• Sanctions against Iran
• Sanctions against Russia

{{reflist}}

{{Cuba–United States relations}}

{{Cuba topics}}

{{Cold War}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Embargo Against Cuba}}

Category:1958 establishments in Cuba

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