• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

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
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.

THEY think they are commies, and as marxist so often does-it ends in fail, usually with millions killed. Over 100 million last century in fact.
 
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.

How about we let Fidel and his bro die off and if the people decide they want better we try to help?
 
More like they tried intense Stalinist collectivism.

They tried socialism as it is practices in real life, not some definition out of a dictionary. It might be dreamy to think if only the right people were in charge it would be different. That's not how it works.
 
I've never understood the USA's attitude to Cuba. A tiny nation.
Despite the embargo their achievements outstrip many western democracies.
CIA factsheet makes some interesting reading.
Their expenditure on education is double that of the USA or Australia. Literacy 98%. youth unemployment 3.1%
I wonder what Cuba would look like now to ordinary Cubans if not for Castro? Just sayin'


https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print/country/countrypdf_cu.pdf
 
Last edited:
They tried socialism as it is practices in real life, not some definition out of a dictionary. It might be dreamy to think if only the right people were in charge it would be different. That's not how it works.
Exactly. The liberal defense of socialism and communism is that the Soviets weren't real socialists or communists; and the Chinese aren't real socialists or communists; and the Cubans aren't real socialists or communists; and the North Koreans aren't real socialists or communists; and the Nazis weren't real socialists.

Will the real socialist please stand up so we can judge you?
 
Exactly. The liberal defense of socialism and communism is that the Soviets weren't real socialists or communists; and the Chinese aren't real socialists or communists; and the Cubans aren't real socialists or communists; and the North Koreans aren't real socialists or communists; and the Nazis weren't real socialists.

Will the real socialist please stand up so we can judge you?

Is The USA a real democracy? Or Australia, Or Finland, or France or??

A direct democracy or pure democracy is a type of democracy where the people govern directly. Athenian democracy or classical democracy refers to a direct democracy developed in ancient times in the Greek city-state of Athens. A popular democracy is a type of direct democracy based on referendums and other devices of empowerment and concretization of popular will.
 
Last edited:
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 know. I'm way too young and so were my parents. My dad was 3 and my mother wasn't even born when this mess started. This seems so much like the embargo was a political stunt that served a partisan purpose at one time. How has it survived all this time? There must be something more than just, "They're communist and we don't won't their communist cooties."

Any older folks in here remember what this embargo was all about?
 
I know. I'm way too young and so were my parents. My dad was 3 and my mother wasn't even born when this mess started. This seems so much like the embargo was a political stunt that served a partisan purpose at one time. How has it survived all this time? There must be something more than just, "They're communist and we don't won't their communist cooties."

Any older folks in here remember what this embargo was all about?

I was only 3 :) but..

The most tense period of the cold war. Cuban missile crisis. Wiki is good enough for a basic understanding.

In response to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961, and the presence of American Jupiter ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey against the USSR with Moscow within range, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev decided to agree to Cuba's request to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter future harassment of Cuba. An agreement was reached during a secret meeting between Khrushchev and Fidel Castro in July and construction on a number of missiles sites started later that summer.

An election was underway in the U.S. and the White House had denied Republican charges that it was ignoring dangerous Soviet missiles 90 miles from Florida. These missile preparations were confirmed when an Air Force U-2 spy plane produced clear photographic evidence of medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic missile facilities. The United States established a military blockade to prevent further missiles from entering Cuba. It announced that they would not permit offensive weapons to be delivered to Cuba and demanded that the weapons already in Cuba be dismantled and returned to the USSR.

After a period of tense negotiations an agreement was reached between Kennedy and Khrushchev. Publicly, the Soviets would dismantle their offensive weapons in Cuba and return them to the Soviet Union, subject to United Nations verification, in exchange for a US public declaration and agreement never to invade Cuba without direct provocation. Secretly, the US also agreed that it would dismantle all US-built Jupiter MRBMs, which were deployed in Turkey and Italy against the Soviet Union but were not known to the public.
Cuban missile crisis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just a demonstration that there are other ways to bring a country to it's knees than with bombs :)


Latterly, votes in Florida I guess
 
Exactly. The liberal defense of socialism and communism is that the Soviets weren't real socialists or communists; and the Chinese aren't real socialists or communists; and the Cubans aren't real socialists or communists; and the North Koreans aren't real socialists or communists; and the Nazis weren't real socialists.

Will the real socialist please stand up so we can judge you?
Well it never worked because our favorite liberals were never in charge of it.
 
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

I see no point in continuing it. It really hasn't accomplished anything. When the cold war ended in my opinion, that would have been an ideal time. I understood having it until then especially when Cuba was sending troops to Africa to either support a Marxist Dictator or to overthrow a government. Even in Central America.

If we can make nice with Vietnam who we had a hot war with, Vietnam is fast becoming a close ally of ours. We should be able to let the embargo drop.
 
Why the Cuban Embargo is necessary?

You don’t need to look further; here you have the answer from the “horse” mouth:

“It is necessary to impose financial, economic and material restrictions to dictatorships, so that they will not take roots for long years….Diplomatic and morals measures do not work against dictatorships, because these make fun of the Governments and the population”. Fidel Castro (Excerpt from the book “Fidel Castro and Human Rights”, Editora Política, Havana, Cuba, 1988).
 
I'm surprised no one has brought up the main reason we still have an embargo.

Cubans in Florida.

They are vehement that the embargo stays until the regime changes to one that will recompense them for their losses.

Florida is a politically critical state (remember 2000?) and Cubans hold significant political power and votes in Florida. They also control a huge PAC.

No President wants to risk pissing them off.

The embargo is generally regarded as ridiculous by most people, as evidenced by the support on this board and clueless opposition.
 
I'm surprised no one has brought up the main reason we still have an embargo.

Cubans in Florida.

Nonsense. If the US embargoed every nation a tiny minority of the population wanted sanctioned, the world would be embargoed.

Cuba remains embargoed because it continues to be ruled by a brutal totalitarian dictatorship that has, in the past, acted against the US in ways that threatened nuclear war.
 
I'm surprised no one has brought up the main reason we still have an embargo.

Cubans in Florida.

They are vehement that the embargo stays until the regime changes to one that will recompense them for their losses.

Florida is a politically critical state (remember 2000?) and Cubans hold significant political power and votes in Florida. They also control a huge PAC.

No President wants to risk pissing them off.

The embargo is generally regarded as ridiculous by most people, as evidenced by the support on this board and clueless opposition.

see post 33 :)
 
Nonsense. If the US embargoed every nation a tiny minority of the population wanted sanctioned, the world would be embargoed.

Cuba remains embargoed because it continues to be ruled by a brutal totalitarian dictatorship that has, in the past, acted against the US in ways that threatened nuclear war.


And has no oil :D
 
So... why the Bay of Pigs?

Why Batista? The USA doesn't always dislike dictators..just "their" (communist) dictators.:rolleyes::rolleyes:
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (Spanish: [fulˈxensjo βaˈtista i salˈdiβar]; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was the elected President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944, and dictator from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution.[1]
 
Why Batista? The USA doesn't always dislike dictators..just "their" (communist) dictators.:rolleyes::rolleyes:
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (Spanish: [fulˈxensjo βaˈtista i salˈdiβar]; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was the elected President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944, and dictator from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution.[1]


Let's not do the "the US must treat every country or dictator the same, regardless of context, and must do everything (perfectly) at the same time" crap. It's a miscarriage of logic and reason.

I know well whom Batista was. It's ridiculous when people post basic history as some kind of revelation that changes a point. It's a pathetic attempt to move the goal posts and apologize for brutal dictatorship.
 
Nonsense. If the US embargoed every nation a tiny minority of the population wanted sanctioned, the world would be embargoed.

Cuba remains embargoed because it continues to be ruled by a brutal totalitarian dictatorship that has, in the past, acted against the US in ways that threatened nuclear war.

Its a tiny politically critical minority.

The nuke thing was a half century ago. i think most of us are over it.
 
Why Batista? The USA doesn't always dislike dictators..just "their" (communist) dictators.:rolleyes::rolleyes:
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (Spanish: [fulˈxensjo βaˈtista i salˈdiβar]; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was the elected President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944, and dictator from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution.[1]

Well, he was only a dictator to its citizens not to big business.
 
Let's not do the "the US must treat every country or dictator the same, regardless of context, and must do everything (perfectly) at the same time" crap. It's a miscarriage of logic and reason.

I know well whom Batista was. It's ridiculous when people post basic history as some kind of revelation that changes a point. It's a pathetic attempt to move the goal posts and apologize for brutal dictatorship.

To the bold..Nonsense.. it's a desirable goal and possibly achievable if people would try to have a little consistency or at least boldly admit the application of double standards when serving self interest.
It's a little ridiculous when people hold a grudge for 50 years and cripple the aspirations of a tiny nation just because they can.
There's nothing ridiculous about posting a little basic FACTUAL history to attempt to put some honesty into a debate.
 
Last edited:
Its a tiny politically critical minority.

BS.

According to the 2005 census, the racial distributions are as follows; 60.1% White, 17% African-American, 2.1% Asian American, 1.4% others (American Indians), and the remaining 18% are Hispanics or Latino (of any ethnicity or national origin).

Of the 18%, I'd guess 5% at most are Cuban. It might not even be a significant portion of Florida's population.

The nuke thing was a half century ago. i think most of us are over it.

It's the same brutal dictatorship, now run by his brother.
 
It's a little ridiculous when people hold a grudge for 50 years and cripple the aspirations of a tiny nation just because they can.

It's a brutal dictatorship run by the brother of the dictator that threatened the world with nuclear war.

There's nothing ridiculous about posting a little basic FACTUAL history to attempt to put some honesty into a debate.

Perhaps 5% of the population of Florida, less than .1% of US population, does not control foreign policy. Let's be real.

Acting like people don't know whom Batista was is ridiculous and has no bearing whatsoever on the Castros being horrible dictators.


Are you denying that Cuba is a brutal dictatorship?
 
BS.



Of the 18%, I'd guess 5% at most are Cuban. It might not even be a significant portion of Florida's population.



It's the same brutal dictatorship, now run by his brother.

on a scale of 1 to 10 where does Castro fall in the brutal dictatorship stakes. Compared say to ..Pinochet?

I've no problem with people blindly loathing everything communist but please try to have a little honesty about it rather than just rolling out the "brutal dictator" thing. Is there such a thing as a good dictator? or just "OUR" dictator any "THEIR" dictator?

You talk about logic? so logically explain why the West supports some dictators and not others.
Enquiring minds would like to know this? Self interest is perfectly legitimate so why hide actions behind propaganda?
 
Last edited:
What, are Cuban exiles the new Jews? Controlling the world despite being a tiny minority!

:lamo
 
Back
Top Bottom