Castro's Pajamas

The longest embargo in modern history is that which the United States has imposed on Cuba. The embargo has directly affected trade, domestic economic activity and foreign aid. In recent years, the demonization of Cuba in domestic American politics, paired with the powerful lobby of Cuban Americans who fled Castro’s revolution, have introduced a new element to the American boycott of Cuba. Despite a tenuous history, it would prove more beneficial to the United States to normalize relations with Cuba because the embargo has failed to achieve its goals.
Following the 1959 revolution, the United States slapped a trade embargo on Cuba in 1961, even before Castro had declared himself a Communist and called in the Soviet Union as an ally. At that time, the embargo had little to no effect because of the Soviet assistance and distribution policies. During the next three decades Cuba’s international trade was with the former Soviet, health and other social indicies dramatically imp...