Sanctions on Cuba

Persuasive Essay # 103827

International Relations > Cold War
Political Science > Communism

Sanctions on Cuba

A look at the reasons why the United States inposed sanctions on Cuba and whether they achieved the desired effect.

2,244 words () | 7 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how the United States has imposed embargoes and trade sanctions on Cuba over the past four decades, and efforts to remove these restrictions have been met with opposition. The paper explains that the reason for most sanctions and embargoes directed at Cuba relates to the concerns about that country since Castro came to power and how the existence of a Communist regime only a few hundred miles from the coast of the United States was a matter of special concern for the CIA from the time of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. The paper concludes that the sanctions have not had the desired effect and continuing them is a sign of stubbornness and not of an effective policy apparatus.

From the Paper:

"The reason for most sanctions and embargoes directed at Cuba relates to the concerns about that country since Castro came to power. The existence of a Communist regime only a few hundred miles from the coast of the United States was a matter of special concern for the CIA from the time of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. The CIA had an operations headquarters in Miami seen by many as a state within a city because it was over, above, and outside the laws of the United States as well as of the international community. The headquarters had a permanent staff in excess of 300 Americans directed a few thousand Cuban agents in different actions, with a budget of more than $50 million a year. "

Sample of Sources Used:

Blum, William. The CIA: A Forgotten History. London: Zed Books, 1986.
"Cuba: Introductory Survey," Europe World Yearbook, Volume 1 (London: Europa, 1998), 1074-1085.
DeGeorge, Gail. "'How Many More People Can We Absorb?'" Business Week (September 26, 1994), 48A, 48E.
Eaton, Tracey, Alredo Corchado, and Laurence Iliff. "Struggling to Survive: U.S. Business, Impoverished Cubans Watch as Nation Inches toward Capitalism." The Dallas Morning News (September 27, 1998), 9R.
Iliff, Laurence. "Cuba's Reform Stalled in Initial Stages, Official Says." The Dallas Morning News (September 30, 1998), 1A.