I was born in June 1959. In October the following year, the United States put an embargo against Cuba, and it has remained in place ever since. The main reason appears to have been for purely US domestic reasons. Certainly there doesn’t appear to have been any real reasons for the embargo for many decades. Furthermore…
The UN General Assembly has, since 1992, passed a resolution every year condemning the ongoing impact of the embargo and declaring it to be in violation of the Charter of the United Nations and international law.[2]
Today it appears as if President Obama in the USA is intending to lift the substantive parts of the embargo. From the Huffington Post
Officials said Wednesday that talks will begin to normalize full U.S.-Cuba diplomatic relations, according to the AP. The U.S. also will aim to open an embassy in Havana in the coming months.
“We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests, and instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries,” Obama said Wednesday, noting he’s instructed Secretary of State John Kerry to begin the discussions to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.
Obama said he instructed Kerry to conduct a review of Cuba’s designation as state sponsor of terror. He also said the U.S. is “taking steps to increase travel, commerce and the flow of information to and from Cuba,” noting the changes will make it easier for Americans to travel there.
“Neither the American nor Cuban people are well-served by a rigid policy that took place before most of us were born,” Obama said, describing the steps being taken to improve relations as the beginning of a “new chapter.”
It will be a problem getting through determined opposition in congress. There are many people in congress who have built political capital based on opposition to Cuba.
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