On 6 April 1960, the US diplomat Lester D Mallory wrote a memo advocating an embargo “denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government”. Sixty-four years later and the policy that Cubans call el bloqueo (the blockade) is still in force. It hasn’t achieved its stated aim of overturning the Cuban Revolution – but it has fueled years of desperation and justified anger.
Barack Obama came to recognize this by his second term. During a historic 2016 visit to Havana, he said that he had come “to bury the last remnant of the cold war in the Americas” and “to extend the hand of friendship to the Cuban people”. By then his administration had already made tangible steps in that direction.
US restrictions on travel and remittances were eased and the countries’ respective embassies were reopened in Havana and Washington. Crucially, Cuba was also removed from the state-sponsors-of-terrorism list and allowed to do business with US banks that are the linchpin of the world financial system. History’s longest standing sanctions regime was not completely dismantled, but the progress was immense, with benefits seen almost immediately by Cuban workers.
The surprise election of Donald Trump changed all of that. Influenced by Cuban-American politicians like Marco Rubio and a vocal lobby in Miami, he restored travel restrictions and banned dealings with state companies that comprise the bulk of Cuba’s economy. But Trump’s most provocative action came just days before he left office in January 2021, when he returned Cuba to the state-sponsors-of-terrorism list. This despite the two countries cooperating extensively on counterterrorism and successful Cuban efforts to encourage Latin American guerrilla groups like Farc to end armed struggle.
On the campaign trail, Joe Biden promised a return to Obama’s approach, but he’s delivered little change. Cuba remains isolated from important sources of trade and finance – even from non-US actors – as a result. These difficult conditions led to recent protests against food shortages and electricity outages in Santiago and much more widespread demonstrations throughout the island in July 2021.
Hawks in the US see a state in its weakest position in decades and believe that inflicting even more pressure on the Cuban people will lead to the end of Communist party rule. In reality, the embargo has only slowed down promising reform efforts and allowed the government to credibly blame economic conditions on an outside force.
Actions against Cuba started before Mallory’s memo, immediately following the 1959 victory of Fidel Castro’s revolutionary forces against the hated Fulgencio Batista dictatorship. Ironically, considering the longstanding US designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, actions supported by Washington ranged from small acts of industrial sabotage to attacks on civilians to a full-scale invasion in 1961.
Despite this pressure, the Castro government implemented important measures. A literacy campaign reached more than 700,000 people, mostly in neglected rural areas. These Cubans also benefited from sweeping land reform, rural electrification and the nationwide establishment of free, high-quality healthcare and education. A one-party state was established, but there was widespread support for and participation in these efforts.
Abroad, the work of Cuban doctors and technical specialists continues to be praised across the developing world. Medical brigades have been sent to over 100 count
