America Foreign Policy

The portion out censor laid by the United resigns on Cuba involves financial, sparing and commercial hindrances that were front placed on Fidel Castros administration in 1962. It was as a leave of the disposal activity expropriation of assets and properties of US nationals and corporations. The deal out embargo was first suggested and implemented by president Kennedys judicature on the ill that at that place was lack of democracy in Cuba non solo in respect to the Cuban nationals save to a fault to separate nationals.In essence, the embargo confine legitimate economic and financial transactions between the nationals of the both countries whether direct or in at one time in fancy to the use of a ternion country or national of such a country. The embargo started with the knowledge up to(p)ness of an business quota on dulcify signifi quarterceed from Cuba by several millions. This was met by an agreement by the Soviet core to by the rest of the sugar fr om Cuba. Still, the Cuban brass under the leadership of Fidel Castro continued to take only actions on businesses owned by American national, confiscating most of it.The US disposal strike backd by expanding the calling secureions even further especially because of the alignment of Cuba with the Soviet Union in the cold war which caused the Cuban missile crisis. Later, the US organisation imposed travel restrictions to its nationals restricting them from traveling to Cuba. Further drink down the line, the US government charged the Cuban government of hosting Soviet Union nuclear weapons and since the union was an enemy in the cold war, regulations were put in place to freeze whatsoever Cuban assets in the states and to further unify the restrictions put on the country.Various restrictions has since been put in place which include restriction on the touchstone of money spent by a US national on the Cuban island, restrictions on the forms and amount of gifts that a US nat ional can give to a relative in Cuba or a Cuban national among former(a)s. Furthermore, the US government restricted all company that is involved in trade activities in Cuba from entering the US scrimping on the argument that such a company would be trafficking assets from US to Cuba. To date, most of the trade restrictions placed on Cuba and expenditure restrictions placed on US nationals and corporations still stand.Despite efforts by many of the activists and United Nations has been get together a dead end with previous and current presidents of the US suspending bills and efforts aimed at raiseing the embargo. Despite the fact that around valid reasons were used in basing the embargo and the fact that the US government and its nationals are non bear on such(prenominal) by the Embargo, the effects of it are non unless bear on the inadvertent still also touch on the US providence in shipway which were unintended. Efforts by activists and the UN are still unsucces sful despite the dire consequences that the embargo has had.In essence, trance today the embargo is much founded on democracy issues in Cuba, it goes a step further to restrain the achievement of democracy in the country, punishing Cuban citizens as opposed to the Administration. The purpose of the paper is to refine on the benefits that can be achieved by lifting the embargo not only to Cuba but also to the US and its citizens in general. Why the Embargo should be lifted As observed earlier, various efforts to lift the restrictions on Cuba and American travelers project always been rejected both by the President and the congress.On the contrary, the US government has eased a little following pressure from some of the activists. For exemplification, agribusiness organizations and American farmers put the government under pressure to lift some of the restrictions which saw the allowance of sale of care for and agricultural goods only for humanitarian reasons. Still, many of the restrictions still are in place and there exist no evidence that these restrictions give be lifted any time soon. In go down with the embargo, Cubans and scholars pitch argued that the embargo has and still is affecting negatively the resources of the Cuban nationals as opposed to those of the government.This raises many humanitarian issues in regard to the US government especially considering that the embargo was as a result of democracy issues in Cuba. It has been argued and it is true to a greater effect that the economic damage that arises as a result of the embargo is to some extent responsible for the conundrums associated with deificationation and food shortage in Cuba. As argued by some governments and activist, the embargo has had dire effects on medicine supplies, food and some other economic needs of Cubans.This by extension has resulted in vulnerability in infectious diseases and epidemics including malnutrition. The restrictions also have negatively change the flow of medical examination learning in the country thus resulting to diseases that would other be easily dealt with. The rationing system that results as a result of food shortage have greatly affected men and the hoary since designed to give preference to women and children. On another view, the embargo has greatly influenced the capacity of US investors in Cuba but more so have affected non American investors in Cuba.In this context, investors who have interests in the US economy have been reluctant or have been restricted by the law of record from investing in Cuba. As such, the embargo is not only affecting the Cuban and the American nationals but also the nationals of other countries as well. Moreover, it has continuously threatened diplomatic family of US and other countries in regard to the dealings and transactions of these countries and Cuba. In any case, while the embargo gives the Cuban government a scapegoat for problems not directly associated with the embargo, it gives a psyche start for non US businesses in Cuba should it be lifted.In this regard, these businesses have already realised firm foundations to be shaken by the competition that would arise from the lifting of the trade embargo. In general, while the embargo is aimed at improve the democracy and the respectfulness with human rights, it has continuously affected these rights negatively making it non humanitarian itself. It is charge noting that it an inadequate reason for the US government to argue that it is involved in liberality work aimed at giving medical and food supplies to Cubans.On the other hand, the bureaucracy involved in this charity work has greatly affected its effectiveness in Cuba. Charity organizations and other non governmental organizations have set about delays as a result of the licensing process involved and transportation problems. It also represent a violation of international law as provided for by the United Nations Charter. In this context, the fact that the embargo directly condemns the sale of certain food products and medical products abuses the human right of accessing life saving medical supplies.Further Arguments As it stands out, the trade embargo imposed by US government hinders free trade between the deuce countries. While the US government is highschoolly dependent on home labor, it does not mean that it has a comparative advantage on all it consumables thus it is forced to import some of it consumables from other countries. This implies that there is an existence of free trade between US and these other countries. One of the major advantages of free trade is that it promotes liberalisation of the economies involved.As such, by maintaining the trade embargo on Cuba, the US is denying the Cuban economy better grounds for slackening. In essence, the Cuban economy can not be open to American investors nor is it open to non US investors who have interests in both countries. In this context, the US economy is and continues to lose the advantages that are associated with the liberalization of the Cuban economy just like any other economy. In fact, it would be irrational to argue that the economy of Cuba has little to offer to that of US.On the other hand, Cuba has been famous of having a comparative advantage on sugar production. It is adjuratory that the US economy can obtain such goods from other economies but the question remain, how cheap would it attain them from the Cuban economy. A good example is the tourist potential of Cuba. Travel restrictions have greatly affected the realisation of benefits in Cuban tourist industry as the US government restricts its nationals in visiting the island and in the maximum amount of dollars that can be spent on the island on any given day.Moreover, free trade allows the manifestation and improvement of diplomatic affinity between the countries involved. While the problem in Cuba is a governmental one, trade embargo does not second in solving othe r problems in the country especially social and humanitarians one. It has over and over been argued that as opposed to a trade embargo, the problems in Cuba can only be solved by changing the communist semipolitical organization in the country. In light with these, the US government should first lift the embargo then recruit on measures that are aimed at filling the loopholes in the Cuban political system.In any case, the embargo like others placed on other countries such as Iraq will only give the Cuban administration a reason to cling further to it political system. While, the US government restrict the provision of certain services to Cubans as was evident in the line where the US government stressed Starwood hotels to chase away Cuban delegate who had attended the US- Cuba Trade Association, the Cuban government is also justified to retaliate in any way they think will bring equality. such retaliation will only worsen further the diplomatic relationship between the two coun tries.Still, free trade wait ons in increasing the amount of external currency held by a given economy. With the reduction of economic aid by the soviet, Cuba has been experiencing may economic problems most of which is as a result of lack of foreign currency to service debts secured from Asian countries. As a result, the alert regulations of Cuban nationals have greatly depreciated. In this context, it is a fallacy for the US government to argue that all the humanitarian problems in Cuba are as a result of bad governance.In essence, the US governments and it assort whether countries, corporations or individuals have greatly contributed to the decline in humanitarian offbeat in Cuba. By placing sanctions on allies dealing with Cuba and by mop up it economy from Cuba, the US government denies Cuba a chance to earn foreign currency and by extension impacts heavily on the livelihood of Cubans. by chance the most obvious advantage of free trade is that it increases the biograph y standard of the nationals of the two respective economies.In this regard, free trade increases the availability of a compartmentalisation of goods and services to the populations of the two countries. For one, the population has a variety of quality products to pack from and secondly, these products are available at a cheaper price keeping in mind the concept of comparative advantage. Buying these products a cheaper price will increase the real purchasing power of the constituents of the population giving them the capacitance to save and invest in other areas of the economy.It would therefore be meritorious to the Cuban nationals if the US government lifts the embargo as this will help in not only reducing their dependence on other economies through charity works but it would also improve their living standards. Since the US government and economy is highly involved in charity work to help Cubans, the lifting of the ban would also go a retentive way in helping the economy to develop given the nature and the approach of the resources used for charity work. Another advantage of free trade is that it helps in improving the infrastructure of both countries and this is inclusive of both transport and communication.While the US trade embargo on Cuba can be seen as restricting the movements of goods and services, restrictions have been put in place which restricts the docking of Cuban ships on American docks. Similarly, there have been travel restrictions especially in regard to US citizens. In light with the restrictions and with the measly diplomatic relationship between the two countries, the infrastructures of the two countries have suffered though not in direct terms. For example, flights operating between the two countries have been rerouted as no of the country want the other to intrude in her air space.Situations as these have increased the cost of transport between the two countries and have even hindered the movement of goods and services especiall y for Cuba since it has to use long routes to import goods thus a high cost of importation. Such a poor infrastructure has also been accused of harboring poor flow of medical information into Cuba and by extension increasing the persistency of epidemics and diseases in the country. Free trade encourages the increase in the direct of investment opportunities between the respective countries while at the same time increasing foreign direct investments.This on the other hand helps in raising the living standards of the population of the two countries. Should the government lift the trade embargo, investment opportunities will sprout in the two countries. As a result, even if the US does not directly participate in investing in the Cuban economy, other multinational companies will seek investment opportunities in the country. In essence, those allies of US who have been reluctant to invest in the country will reconsider their stand. Moreover, the multinational companies in Cuba will a lso seek investment opportunities not only in the American economy but also in the economies of its allies.This will earn foreign currency for all the participating countries but more so will help in raising the living standards of Cuban nationals. As evidence has shown, the confiscation of Cuban assets including money held in banks, the government is only further aggregating the problem as the Cuban government is bound to take equal measures of counter attack and this can only add up to a web of tit for tat game. In addition to the higher up, free trade is also beta in that it helps in increasing purpose opportunities in the respective countries.As is the case with the living standards, unveiling of employment opportunities is integrated with other factors such investment and specialization. As declared earlier, free trade creates investment opportunities which by extension create employment opportunities while at the same time improving the living standards of the nationals. I n addition, free trade increases the economies of scale which means more investment and kale from the existing investments. This will also help in creating employment opportunities for the citizens of the two countries.In this light, it would be more advantages if the US government considers the probability of lifting the embargo as this would benefit not only the economy of Cuba but also its own economy. It would help in raising the living standards of Cubans thus reducing the level of poverty and dependence in the country. Finally, free trade helps in the harmonization of labor policies between the two countries thus offering cheap and low-priced labor term. On top of this, free trade allows increased mobility of factors of production.As utter earlier, the fact that the US economy is capable in producing most of its consumables does not necessarily mean that it has a comparative advantage in production of all of them. If the embargo is lifted, the US economy will be able to ex pand its base in relation to factors of production thus improving on the productivity of its economy. With the advantage arising from the geographical positions of the two countries, the US economy is capable of importing factors of production from Cuba at a lower cost and in time thus increasing productivity in its industries.Goods can also be exported to Cuba not just for charity work but also for earning foreign currency. Conclusion As is evident following the above discussion, it is evident that the US by placing the embargo on Cuba, the US government has denied the Cuban economy to grow and by extension, it has denied Cubans the opportunity of enjoying a high standard of living. While the argument still remains that the embargo is aimed at improving the democracy in Cuba, it should be known to the US government that this has only resulted to more humanitarian problems than there was before the embargo.It is therefore important for the US government to accept the fact that what is needed in Cuba as opposed to trade embargos is to change the whole political system. 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