Galveston mayor visits Cuba

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Max2147

The US trade embargo on Cuba predates the Cuban Missile Crisis. The embargo was put in place in February, the Crisis didn't happen until October.

The travel restrictions followed in 1963. All those policies were Presidential directives until 1992, when Congress passed them into law. The restrictions were reinforced in 1996 after the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown.

The naval blockade during the Cuban Missile Crisis was completely different. It was brief and was lifted after the Crisis ended.

The trade embargo and other restrictions have been huge failures. The goal was to get Castro out of power. In fact, they've helped keep Castro in power for all these years. It allowed Castro and friends to blame any problems in Cuba on the US embargo, thus keeping people blind to the flaws in the socialist system.

If we lift the embargo and the travel restrictions, socialism in Cuba will disappear within a couple years. Cubans will be flooded with American goods and rich American tourists, and the lies they've been told about the superiority of socialism will be exposed. The only way the Castro clique will stay in power is if they morph Cuba into a socialist in name only country like China.

The travel restriction stemmed from the Bay of Pigs deal?