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Should the US end its embargo against Cuba?

Should the US embargo on Cuba be ended?

  • No.

    Votes: 12 18.2%
  • Yes.

    Votes: 46 69.7%
  • Yes, but with conditions or limits.

    Votes: 6 9.1%
  • I'm unsure or don't care either way.

    Votes: 2 3.0%

  • Total voters
    66

Smeagol

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Earlier this year the fam and I took a cruise to Cozumel from Florida. The cab driver was a native of Cuba and as I tend to do, struck up a conversation to learn a little about his world. He urged me to visit Cuba, offering tips on getting there while avoiding US state department monitoring, assuring me the Cuban government cooperates with American visitors and will not stamp our passports, etc. Odd, because I thought Cuban immigrants were strong advocates for the embargo and this guy was very supportive of wanting me to break it, beaming about how great their tourism industry is and that although a dictatorship "is nothing like North Korea." In case you're wondering, I'm not going to break US law and go there but it was interesting to hear his sales pitch.

On the cruise, we got really close to Cuba. The captain got on the PA system and encouraged us to enjoy the view the island's northern coast.

Recently the UN passed its 23rd resolution urging the US to end the embargo.

Should JFK's embargo on Cuba be ended? Is a dictatorship 90 miles from the US unacceptable and therefore the embargo should be continued? If you think it should be, do you think the labeling of the Predident as "a Marxist" by some in his opposition has created too much of a political liability for the president to end it? Should we base our Cuban policy on the will of Cuban immigrants and their offspring in America as they are most affected? International politics aside, do you think lifting the embargo would adversely affect the US economy? Should we consider tourism dollars in Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands being lost to Cuba? Should we consider more manufacturing jobs leaving America and relocating to Cuba and American agriculture suffering due to new citrus, potato, poultry, cattle and other imports especially in the present economy? Would lifting the Cuban embargo encourage and make easier more immigration from a Latin American country and if so is that a problem? Do embargoes hurt the wrong people; the innocent people living under an oppressive government while the power-holders continue live a life of luxury regardless? Anyhow, those are my thoughts. I'm undecided but curious about how others felt.

For 23rd time, U.N. nations urge end to U.S. embargo on Cuba | Reuters
 
Castro is essentially dead.

Now that the inferior subhuman is gone we can and should begin reintroducing Cuba to the rest of the world (rest of the world = USA).
 
I'll admit, I'd be far more inclined to supporting ending the embargo if Cuba had not try to help sneak missiles into North Korea recently and if Putin were acting like a civilized leader. Because of this, I'm leaning toward waiting for a new generation of leadership. Still unsure however.
 
Sure, it's probably been long enough.

Whether we do or don't means little to me at the moment.

And yea, Cuba's nothing like North Korea. Far as dictatorships go, it's not that bad. Nice beaches.
 
Removing an embargo is not as simple as saying Yes or No.

My view on that is if there are more legitimate gains than legitimate losses, the embargo should be removed and then those gains capitalized on ricky ****ing tick.
 
Cuba likes to arm other rogue commies. Let em rot until they figure it out.

An ideological shift inside a country can occur if the various right pressures are applied. New leadership can bring new scenery and new opportunities for those who would be so inclined. Shoring up this hemisphere should absolutely be a strategic imperative.
 
An ideological shift inside a country can occur if the various right pressures are applied. New leadership can bring new scenery and new opportunities for those who would be so inclined. Shoring up this hemisphere should absolutely be a strategic imperative.

Cubans have decided they want communism. Let them keep it and its consequences until they see fit.
 
Cubans have decided they want communism. Let them keep it and its consequences until they see fit.

Which can be brought out, again, if the right pressures are applied. Opening up Cuba and having it favor us is more beneficial than letting the Russians or whoever else gain tremendous influence there. Besides, there's money to be made, lots of it.
 
Can someone please explain to me the purpose of the embargo? I've never understood it given the other commie countries we trade with.
 
I say lift the embargo at once. A wave of capitalism will wash the last vestiges of communism right out to sea.
 
I say lift the embargo at once. A wave of capitalism will wash the last vestiges of communism right out to sea.

All communism needs is capitalisms money to sustain itself. We saw this in the USSR, we see it now in China. Adopt capitalist principles and keep the same marxist fail and they are GTG for decades.
 
All communism needs is capitalisms money to sustain itself. We saw this in the USSR, we see it now in China. Adopt capitalist principles and keep the same marxist fail and they are GTG for decades.

China is not little "c" communist. They are big "C" Communist in respect they are dominated by a Communist Party which upholds corporatist-capitalist principles.
 
All communism needs is capitalisms money to sustain itself. We saw this in the USSR, we see it now in China. Adopt capitalist principles and keep the same marxist fail and they are GTG for decades.
They have been communist for decades with the embargo, its hard to argue that communism would flourish without one. The truth is, you let capitalism into cuba and the Cuban people will see for themselves the superiority of liberty and free markets and demand it for themselves.
 
Earlier this year the fam and I took a cruise to Cozumel from Florida. The cab driver was a native of Cuba and as I tend to do, struck up a conversation to learn a little about his world. He urged me to visit Cuba, offering tips on getting there while avoiding US state department monitoring, assuring me the Cuban government cooperates with American visitors and will not stamp our passports, etc. Odd, because I thought Cuban immigrants were strong advocates for the embargo and this guy was very supportive of wanting me to break it, beaming about how great their tourism industry is and that although a dictatorship "is nothing like North Korea." In case you're wondering, I'm not going to break US law and go there but it was interesting to hear his sales pitch.

On the cruise, we got really close to Cuba. The captain got on the PA system and encouraged us to enjoy the view the island's northern coast.

Recently the UN passed its 23rd resolution urging the US to end the embargo.

Should JFK's embargo on Cuba be ended? Is a dictatorship 90 miles from the US unacceptable and therefore the embargo should be continued? If you think it should be, do you think the labeling of the Predident as "a Marxist" by some in his opposition has created too much of a political liability for the president to end it? Should we base our Cuban policy on the will of Cuban immigrants and their offspring in America as they are most affected? International politics aside, do you think lifting the embargo would adversely affect the US economy? Should we consider tourism dollars in Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands being lost to Cuba? Should we consider more manufacturing jobs leaving America and relocating to Cuba and American agriculture suffering due to new citrus, potato, poultry, cattle and other imports especially in the present economy? Would lifting the Cuban embargo encourage and make easier more immigration from a Latin American country and if so is that a problem? Do embargoes hurt the wrong people; the innocent people living under an oppressive government while the power-holders continue live a life of luxury regardless? Anyhow, those are my thoughts. I'm undecided but curious about how others felt.

For 23rd time, U.N. nations urge end to U.S. embargo on Cuba | Reuters

Of course we should give up the sanctions and would have long ago. If they recompense Americans whose property was confiscated? Sure. But till then it would be stupid.
 
China is not little "c" communist. They are big "C" Communist in respect they are dominated by a Communist Party which upholds corporatist-capitalist principles.

And they got there because they saw the writing on the wall. Its just a slap in the face of marxism but they would look like N. Korea now if they didn't adopt those principles.

Cuba will just be enabled.
 
I got curious and looked online today and its a lot easier to legally vacation there than I thought.

1. Religious trips are legal. Missions groups from churches, etc.

2. Educational trips are legal. Foreign exchange students, study abroad, college tours.

3. Cultural exchange trips are legal. Pop stars who go there to share American culture, Dennis Rodman can hold basketball tournaments, the symphony orchestra can go to perform with the Cuban counterpart, etc.

and 4. Regular Americans visiting as long as they have significant contact with locals so we get to know them and they get to know us through a state department licensed tour operator who knows the particular rules.

Travel however is not direct. You'd need to connect in Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, The Bahamas or some other likely Caribbean or Latin American country.
 
They have been communist for decades with the embargo, its hard to argue that communism would flourish without one. The truth is, you let capitalism into cuba and the Cuban people will see for themselves the superiority of liberty and free markets and demand it for themselves.

Thats a rosy assessment. Why dont we see that in China? Because China adapted, to keep its communism by funding it with capitalism.

Frankly, they probably only held on this long (if you can call it that) because of foreign money coming in from other nations who dont have an embargo.

And they were again just recently busted trading arms with N. Korea. They are telling us they dont want to play by the rules, so let em rot.
 
All communism needs is capitalisms money to sustain itself. We saw this in the USSR, we see it now in China. Adopt capitalist principles and keep the same marxist fail and they are GTG for decades.

Neither the USSR, China or Cuba are communistic nations. They are totalitarian states. There are no communist nations on this planet. There are a couple that claim to be, but in reality are nothing more than forms of dictatorships.
 
China is not little "c" communist. They are big "C" Communist in respect they are dominated by a Communist Party which upholds corporatist-capitalist principles.

True enough. They tried socialism and the result was tens of millions starved to death. They're smarter than to go back to that.
 
Thats a rosy assessment. Why dont we see that in China? Because China adapted, to keep its communism by funding it with capitalism.

Frankly, they probably only held on this long (if you can call it that) because of foreign money coming in from other nations who dont have an embargo.

And they were again just recently busted trading arms with N. Korea. They are telling us they dont want to play by the rules, so let em rot.
Cuba is small, right off our coast, and would be subject to heavy US influence. It is hard to argue that the embargo has had any influence on communism in Cuba since it is still going strong after 60 years. Lift the embargo and open Cuba to the free flow of goods, people and ideas and communism cannot survive.
 
True enough. They tried socialism and the result was tens of millions starved to death. They're smarter than to go back to that.

More like they tried intense Stalinist collectivism.
 
More like they tried intense Stalinist collectivism.

:shrug: public ownership of the means of production without an individual profit motive to spur production. Whatever spin-off you desperately want to try to put it under. They tried socialism and it succeeded there about as well as it did in Russia and North Korea.
 
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