Cuba Is Not Worthy of having the Embargo Lifted
The Embargo on Cuba should not be lifted. Cuba is one of the biggest violators of international human rights laws. Also, Cuba has a strong involvement in international terrorism. Next is Cuba’s predominant participation in the drug trade. There are countless other crimes broken but these are the main ones, and because of this Cuba is, undeserving of having the embargo lifted and should be prevented at all costs. What do most Americans think, 51% of Americans are for lifting the ban on Cuban, while 29% were not, and 19% are undecided (Angus Reid).
Cuba is known for having horrible human rights, Cuba stands as tier 3 country for modern day slavery which is as bad you can be listed (The Atlantic). Also the Cuban government continues to use short-term imprisonment to terrorize and prevent citizens from exercising their freedom of speech. Next, the Cuban government enforces political imprisonment for anyone who opposes the government or tries to form a different political party. On top of that they imprison numerous individuals who practice freedom of the press, this includes any media source not ran by the government (Human Rights Watch). If in any case you protest or oppose the government's policies publicly the consequences are very serious. Another human rights violation which practically makes Cuba prison on Earth is its travel restrictions. For years Cuban citizens have not been allowed to leave the country unless they left as refugees. Only until recently has Cuba lifted the ban. If a Cuban wants to leave the country it cost five months’ pay, and on top of that there’s months of numerous paperwork that must be filed. In the end it still makes it nearly impossible to leave the country freely (USA Today). When it comes to Cuba’s prison system, they have some of the worst prisons on Earth. All of the prisons are overcrowded with rat-infested cells. Almost all of the prisons have no running water, and very basic hygiene stations which are not suitable for any human (Univeristy of Miami). Many prisoners have reported constant torture and beatings from prison guards, also starvation and deprived of basic necessities throughout their tenure in prison (Human Rights Watch).
The Cuban government continues a strong involvement in backing terrorism and protecting fugitives, these range from cop killers to radical jihadists. Israel one of the United States closest allies is under constant attack from Hamas a terrorist organization located on the Gaza strip. Cuba is a known supporter of Hamas and on top of that they back Hamas both financially and with intelligence, putting the United States and Israel at risk. Cuba also harbors terrorists from the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which has carried out attacks throughout the world (News Max). These include an embassy in the United Kingdom, blowing up Alas Flight 901 over Panama, and U.S embassies and bases around the world (Daily Caller). Cuba also harbors American fugitives one notable one is Joanne Chesimard known for her Black Panther name Assata Shakur, on May 1973 Assata shot and killed New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster. After being charged with multiple crimes ranging from bank robbery to kidnapping Assata was sent to prison. In 1979 Assata escaped prison and was on the run for five years until she fled the United States in 1984 for Cuba, where she was granted asylum (Daily Caller). Since then she had been on the FBI’s top 10 most wanted and she has both a $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 bounty over her head, but the Cuban refuses to extradite Shakur (Washington Post).
Although Cuba has many legitimate forms of bringing wealth into the country such as sugar, tobacco, and coffee, much of it is through illegal trade. Cuba is heavily involved in the Latin American drug trade, Fidel Castro in his time as the leader was called a kingpin by his past bodyguards. That bodyguard was Juan Reinaldo Sanchez, in 1988 when he was listening in on a Fidel meeting with a man from Columbia. In conversation, he said the Americans are buying drugs from the Columbians, when not make me the middle man so that way it helps more in the destruction of the U.S while bringing cash into Cuba (New York Post). In a more recent case, a ship carrying goods from Cuba to Belgium was stopped and searched in Panama, 900 pounds of Cocaine was found (Breitbart).
In spite of the fact that the Cold War ended over 25 years ago many governments still hold communism near and dear. The United States has opened up to former communist economies only because they let go of some of their evil ways. Unfortunately, there are two that have not opened up and moved towards democracy North Korea and Cuba. These two countries are prisons on Earth and the United States cannot associate themselves with these nations. They treat their citizens like animals with zero opportunity to succeed. They treat their citizens like pawns only to benefit the people in control. Only until Cuba allows the free opportunity to its entire people shall the Embargo be lifted. But until then all sanctions and bans on Cuban products should stay.
Work Cited
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