Can you give an example of a positive aspect or outcome that the 54 year embargo on Cuba has actually achieved?

It kept some otherwise forgettable politicians in office in South Florida.

It was a bogey-man for Republicans to use to support their military-industrial complex fanaticism.

It enabled the US to lose influence in Latin America and allow other major powers to assert their strengths in the absence of US interest in Latin America. Basically, the embargo was good for our enemies.

The embargo was, perhaps, defensible as an approach for the first 10–15 years, max. After that is was unproductive and became ridiculous. The problem was that we (the US) let a bunch of loudmouth ex-cubans mesmerize the republican party and lock us into this static view towards Cuba.

The key metric on the effectiveness of the embargo is this – are the Castro brothers still running Cuba?

Answer: YES

The embargo was a failure.

A positive note: it has preserved quite a few classic cars from the 1950s.

Why ask us? Ask the people of Cuba.

The embargo was a great success for the Castro regime. They wouldn’t have lasted long without it.

Poor economic conditions spurred immigration to the United States, bringing us the following list of Cuban people: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cuban_Americans.

It effectively convinced the dull witted among us that Cuba’s economic difficulties are somehow the result of its socialist agenda

I believe there was a heck of a lot more to the party going on than we’re privy to. Things between the US and Cuba are upsetting enough for Russia to have one of their submarines float by and sunbathe while negotiations for this one small facet of an opening were being discussed there.
The only people allowed over are governmental officials and cleared ‘private citizens’ as visitors.
Many of the companies so deeply embedded there prior to the military takeover, it has been the thought of some that a few of those businesses interests never quite left. ???
Two questions which puzzle me:
1— There have been a few groups down near the tip of FL.- Miami-ish, that are so vehemently opposed to this change in Cuban /US status, that makes one wonder how and why they are so very upset. It has been suggested that cartels working with their ‘families’ here FL, are making some waves- a strong negative on some effected relationships established with other nations in the same proximity. Some believe that Cental/South American relations are of greater importance, especially with the tentacles of ISIS establishing themselves in places outside the Middle East. ( Look at what information has just been released about ISIS now deeply rooted in the Philippines. Training camps with different types of foliage, survival means and terrain… kinda like that in….C&S America? They soooo love us there in the Philippines ..as in -not at all, lately.)
So this push for Cuban relations? Step back and get a bigger picture, perhaps? ???

My second question: If they are so choosy about Who gets to go to Cuba…why the freak are Beyonce and Jay-Z being sent? Seriously? Music Industry biggies into espionage….? Heeheehee- no really….why them?

I’m sorry, the gerbil in my brain still is running on it’s wheel.
The embargo and anything else that was a point of estrangement, has been tossed out with the bathwater. I believe both the US and Cuba (Cuba with it’s backers who are now nightly bombing the shit out of everything without regard -Russia) were to change their status with each other – only faster, as one of Putin’s negotiations in the ” OMG What are we gonna do????” meetings of the world leaders concerning joined defense efforts.
That’s why the embargo was lifted by the US, being benevolent in order to get ducks in a row over here as early as possible.
I’m being edited so the info doesn’t make sense now….
Anyway- the embargo vs big picture/ future plans, guess which wins?
ALL of these two postings are IMHO…

@GLOOM

Ehh, a fair few of those pre-date the Cuban revolution (some by decades). Some others I wouldn’t count at all, like Jeff Bezos (who is actually of Scandinavian ancestry, and is only “Cuban-American” via his last name, which he got because his mother married a Cuban man a few years after his birth (his last name, at birth, was Jorgensen)).

@Darth. I did not scrub the list. Thanks.

I’ll just say that the USA did benefit from the influx of many great people that otherwise may have never sought better living conditions.

Helps keep FL in swing state mode.

Trade is the least of it. People not being able to visit their families is what has always bothered me.

So, 54 years of a policy of sanctions and isolation have achieved nothing?

@rojo I guess also it has helped Cubans who make it the US get immediate legal status. I’ve been wondering about whether that will go away as things loosen up with Cuba. Asylum “helps” Cubans who make it here, but of course it creates an environment that Cubans risk dying to come here.

Does the religious right want to keep up the embargo? I’m just curious, because they tend to very seriously associate communism with atheism and the atheists are the worst.

Personally, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal whether we have the embargo or not in terms of America, except for red and blue politics and that we are the country the Cubans float over to. The embargo matters more for Cuba than us, but they trade and have tourism from many other countries. Their government needs to change for real change over there. For us what? We can get cigars? Another tropical place we can vacation too? Maybe we can buy some sugarcane from them?

During Clinton he allowed travel between Cuba and America and then that was stopped again. Do you remember why? That might help with this Q. Also, I thought we were exporting agricultural products to Cuba for a while. I think that was also during Bill Clinton in office. Castro didn’t want to do it when we opened it up, from what I remember, but then he finally permitted it.

They learned to push the boundaries of living with less. Note that this more a function of the authoritarian leadership rather than the embargo.