Globwatch strongly opposes the range of measures imposed since 1958 that lead to a full-scale US embargo against Cuba. Therefore, demands an immediate end to the embargo. The embargo, understood as economic sanctions, never achieved any objectives, but to empoverish the Cubans. In international diplomacy, economic sanctions are used to force a state to comply with international obligations. These obligations are usually so important that their violation could threaten world peace and stability. But since the dismantling of russian missile-bases in Cuba in 1962-1963, the island never represented any threat to world peace, and so, the US embargo never made any sense. Yes, the Cuban-americans hold a grudge against the communist regime, because they were thrown out of their country. But what this minority achieved in terms of quality of life in the United States would have never been accomplished in Cuba. Yes, the Cuban regime of Fidel Castro expropriated US belongings. But this same regime offered to compensate for US owners in 2001. Even if a compensation deal cannot refund all that was stolen, this could be a first step toward the reestablishment of trust between parties. The communist regime of Cuba is born from the Cuban revolution of January 1, 1959. It was implicitely chosen by the Cubans, the same way other revolutions brought new political systems in other countries, and follows the uprisal of higher political systems in Occident (See Higher Political Systems). Every single developed nation at some point in the past experienced sudden political changes to fight social injustice. Nations have legitimately chosen to be governed independently as they pleased, and demanding each time responsibility from tyrans who worked against their well-being, either through tribunals or revolutions. But in Cuba, nothing could promote change better and faster than a philosophy of laissez-faire or total freedom that could lead to economic, diplomatic, military and cultural cooperation; the beginning of an era where Americans and Cubans alike could have nothing to loose, instead, everything to win.

This is a short background of the embargo:

The US embargo against Cuba really started just before the Cuban Revolution, when the island fell under control of the 26 July movement and other revolutionary organizations. The embargo began with a prohibition to export arms to Cuba in 1958, followed by a substantial reduction of sugar imports from Cuba in 1960 in response to a cuban Agrarian Reform Law that authorized the expropriation of large-scale land-holdings, largely owned by US businessmen.

Had it not been for the large-scale expropriations, the United States might have stuck to its long-standing tradition to support foreign governments for as long as they protected US economic-interests. In fact, the US-Cuban relationship had a wonderful start. Just over a century ago, in 1902, the United States agreed to surrender the island to the Cubans after America defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War. While America liked to spy on Cubans and mengle in internal affairs, soon after the fall of Batista's dictatorship on January 1, 1959, the US agreed to recognize Castro's administration, even though both countries shared other political ideologies. Unfortunately, diplomacy was short-lived.

The cuban regime soon aligned with the Soviet Union in the midst of the Cold War, convinced that closer relations to the Russians could avoid a long-suspected US-invasion of the island, as the US-sponsored Brigade 2506 had failed in its mission to gather support and launch a counter-revolution in Cuba. The construction of russian-missile bases on their soil in 1962, identified by the US reconnaissance on October 14 of the same year, pressed President John F. Kennedy to order a naval arms-blockade of Cuba and set up a realistic plan to invade Cuba with pre-invasion bombings.

Sofar, no President ever managed to lift the embargo, since this would have required the vote on a new bill of mostly desinclined Congress. Instead, the embargo was weakened and reinforced over time depending chiefly on the President's executive power and own personal convictions. These are quotes on the US embargo against Cuba from various personalities. All in all, this is a boring chronology of decisions that lead to a full-scale US-embargo against Cuba: