Embargo Legal Status

As of 2018 [Update], the embargo is mainly enforced by six laws: the Trade with the Enemy Act of 1917, the Foreign Aid Act of 1961, the Cuban Asset Control Regulations of 1963, the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, the Helms-Burton Act of 1996, and the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000. [2] The stated objective of the 1992 Cuban Democracy Law is to: Maintain sanctions against Cuba as long as the Cuban government refuses to move towards “democratization and greater respect for human rights.” [3] The Helms-Burton Act further restricted U.S. citizens from doing business in Or with Cuba and imposed restrictions on public or private support for a successor government in Havana, unless certain claims against the Cuban government were met. In 1999, President Bill Clinton extended the trade embargo by banning foreign affiliates of U.S. companies from trading with Cuba. In 2000, Clinton authorized the sale of food and “humanitarian” products to Cuba. U.S. embargoes and economic sanctions against certain countries explicitly exclude certain types of goods, such as weapons or luxury goods, while allowing other forms of trade. On the other hand, full embargoes are more punishable because they prohibit all trade with the country. Every year since 1992, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution condemning the continuing effects of the embargo and violating the Charter of the United Nations and international law. In 2014, of the 193 countries in the Assembly, 188 countries voted in favour of the non-binding resolution, the United States and Israel voted against, and the Pacific island states of Palau, Marshall Islands and Micronesia abstained.

[2] [14] Human rights groups such as Amnesty International[2], Human Rights Watch[15] and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights[16] have also criticized the embargo. Critics of the embargo often refer to it as a “blockade,” saying the respective laws are too harsh, pointing out that violations can result in up to 10 years in prison. [Citation needed] U.S. export regulations prohibit the continuation of any transaction if the exporter detects something suspicious or suggests that illegal activity could take place. In this case, the exporter is required to examine and extinguish the red flags before proceeding. BIS provides a list of red alert indicators. The current regulation does not prohibit U.S. citizens from traveling to Cuba per se, but it does make it illegal for the United States. Citizens who need to conduct transactions (spend money or receive gifts) in Cuba in most circumstances without a license from the U.S. government`s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

[27] Since even paying unavoidable taxes on airline tickets at a Cuban airport would violate this transaction law, it is virtually impossible for ordinary tourists to visit Cuba without violating the rule of monetary transactions. The 7. In September 1962, Kennedy officially extended the Cuban embargo to all Cuban trade, with the exception of the unsubsidized sale of food and medicine. The embargo was tightened in October 1992 by the Cuban Democracy Act (the “Torricelli Law”) and in 1996 by the Cuban Law on Freedom and Democratic Solidarity (known as the Helms-Burton Act), which allows foreign companies to do business in Cuba. preventing them from doing business in the United States. Justification For these restrictions, it was considered that these companies were trading in the United States stolen. Real estate and should therefore be excluded from the United States. [Citation needed] However, President Obama tried to lift the embargo, but Congress did not allow it. An embargo may block the importation of goods and services important to the civilian population of the restricted State. In an embargoed state, companies may lose the ability to trade or invest in the embargoed state. In June 2011, former Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern accused “embittered Cuban exiles in Miami” of keeping the embargo alive.

Before visiting Cuba, he stated:[89] Some religious leaders oppose the embargo for a variety of reasons, including the humanitarian and economic restrictions that the embargo imposes on Cubans. Pope John Paul II called for an end to the embargo during his pastoral visit to Mexico in 1979. [83] Patriarch Bartholomew I called the embargo a “historic mistake” during his visit to the island on January 25, 2004. [84] The Reverend Jesse Jackson, Reverend Al Sharpton, and Minister Louis Farrakhan also publicly opposed the embargo. On the 15th. Speaking in Havana in May 2002, former President Jimmy Carter called for an end to the embargo, saying, “Our two nations have been trapped in a destructive state of belligerence for 42 years, and it is time for us to change our relationship.” The U.S. bishops have called for an end to the embargo on Cuba following Pope Benedict XVI`s visit to the island in 2012. [85] There are various forms of embargo imposed on a state or country, including: After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. embargoes increasingly targeted countries with known ties to terrorist organizations that pose a threat to national security. Recently, U.S. embargoes have become widespread, paving the way for a series of trade wars. The United States imposed september 14.

In March 1958, during the 1953-1958 armed conflict between the rebels led by Fidel Castro and the regime of Fulgencio Batista, an arms embargo was imposed on Cuba. The arms sales violated U.S. policy, which had authorized the sale of arms to Latin American countries that had signed the Inter-American Treaty of Mutual Assistance (Rio Treaty) in 1947, as long as the weapons were not used for hostile purposes. [17] The arms embargo had more impact on Batista than on the rebels. After the Castro socialist government came to power on January 1, 1959, Castro attempted to advance the United States, but was rejected by the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration, which began making plans in March to overthrow him. Congress did not want to lift the embargo. Cuba has no advanced industrial base and produces little value that could be traded with the United States if the embargo were lifted. The demand for products that Cuba exports can usually be easily met by domestic production or trade relations with more economically reliable and friendly countries. It is true that the Cuban state medical program at home has made some progress in the treatment of certain cancers, and the medical industries heavily subsidized by the State of Cuba have reduced costs, even for poor foreigners, for those who otherwise could not afford medical treatment. Despite this exception, the benefits of lifting the embargo would be very one-sided in Cuba`s favour. Cuban benefits would include alleviating the frequent shortage of goods on the island, additional low-cost services that are not readily available in Cuba, and access to new and better technologies for personal consumption and economic development.

On May 1, 2009, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez spoke about his meeting in the United States. President Barack Obama said at a summit a few days earlier: “If President Obama does not dismantle this brutal blockade of the Cuban people, then all this is just a lie, all this will be a great farce and the American empire will be alive and well and threaten us.” [77] In June 2009, Moisés Naím wrote in Newsweek: “The embargo is the perfect example used by anti-Americans around the world to expose the hypocrisy of a superpower punishing a small island while befriending dictators elsewhere.” [78] In September 2016, Newsweek reported that future President Donald Trump`s hotel company violated the embargo and spent at least $68,000 on its 1998 push into Cuba without U.S. government approval. With Trump`s knowledge, the executives funneled the money for the trip to Cuba through a U.S. consulting firm called Seven Arrows Investment and Development Corp. After the management consultants traveled to Cuba and covered the company`s costs, Seven Arrows taught senior executives at Trump`s company — then called Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts — how they could make it legal by then tying it to a charitable effort. [68] [69] An embargo is a powerful instrument that can influence a nation both economically and politically. The ability to easily exchange goods around the world is essential to maximize a country`s economic prosperity.

If this is no longer possible, it can have serious negative consequences. On October 10, 2006, the United States announced the creation of a working group that will pursue more aggressive violations of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba with severe sanctions. [67] The rules are still in effect and are administered by OFAC. Criminal penalties for violating the embargo range from up to ten years in prison, $1 million in fines for companies, and $250,000 in individual fines; Civil penalties of up to $55,000 per violation. [Citation needed] The variety of historical and modern cases of the imposition of an embargo makes it possible to classify the use of such a policy in foreign trade activities for various reasons. Embargoes are usually directed against a country or group of countries. For example, the embargo may be imposed on a criminal or terrorist organization. The President of the United States has the power to impose embargoes and other sanctions in time of war under the Trade with the Enemy Act. The second wave of nationalization prompted the Eisenhower administration, in one of its last acts, to sever all diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961. The partial U.S. trade embargo with Cuba continued under the Enemy Trade Act of 1917.

The embargo has been criticized for its impact on the food, drinking water, [72] medicine, and other economic needs of the Cuban people. Criticism has come from both Fidel Castro and Raúl Castro, cuban citizens and groups, as well as international organizations and leaders.