U.S. Embargo on Cuba

The United States imposed an embargo on Cuba in 1959. Has the time come for the United States to lift the 44-year-old embargo? The embargo on Cuba was part of America's cold war strategy against the Soviet Union; imposed on the basis that Cuba was a threat to U.S. national security because of their alliance with the Soviet Union, Fidel Castro's support of revolutionary forces in Latin America and the expropriation of U.S. property. The cold war ended 12 years ago. Democracy and political stability in Latin America are at an all time high, with Cuba being the only non-democratic nation in Latin America. In 1998, the Defense Intelligence Agency concluded that Cuba no longer poses a significant threat to U.S. national security or other countries in the region. The expropriation of U.S. property will not be solved by an embargo and lastly, for the eleventh year in a row, the United Nations has called for the end to the embargo. The most recent vote of the General Assembly on 12 November 2002, overwhelmingly voted 173 in favor to 3 opposed. Yet America continues to endorse a policy of isolation with no intentions of removing the embargo now or any time in the near future.