Cuba

U.S Policy vs. Castro Government:

In October, 2003, President Bush sent a commission of government officials to Cuba to examine the United States' policy toward Cuba. The commission was also sent to Cuba to observe and put pressure on the Communist Castro government, which would also help Bush gain the support of Cuban-Americans. However, President Bush declared that he would not be willing to do business with Cuba, even after the Castro government had been replaced.

Then, in the winter of 2003, the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba met and held hearings on what the commission had observed in Cuba. A 500 page report on the United States' Cuban policy was composed and given to President Bush. The report in a plan against the Cuban government, which included putting more economic and political pressure on Cuba. Also, Cuban-Americans could now only visit immediate family members, such as parents or siblings, in Cuba every three years. It was also decided that a Cuban-American could not spend more than $50 per day when they were visiting Cuba. After these restrictions on America's contact with Cuba were put into effect, many Americans began to question the logic behind it; "[i]t's embarrassingly inconsistent for Washington to maintain a trade embargo against Havana and to bar U.S. citizens from traveling to Cuba when the U.S. gleefully does business with regimes like China, whose human-rights violations are more egregious than Cuba's" (Padgett).

However, in April, 2009, President Barack Obama, made an attempt to "improve Washington's dismal relations south of the border" (Padgett). President Obama acknowledged the fact that the trade embargo put in place forty-seven years ago was not affective in weakening the Castro government. Unlike President Bush, one of President Obama's goals for Cuba was to lift the restrictions on family members visiting Cuba. He also wanted to install American cell phone and television service to Cuba; this would allow more information into Cuba.

With the Cuban economy collapsing, the country is realizing that change is unavoidable. In the past, Cuba had depended on military aid from the Soviet Union, however the Soviet Union collapsed, and Cuba no longer receives aid. The American government acknowledges the fact that Cuba is at a fragile economic state, and there are concerns that if Cuba does become a democratic nation, will the transfer of power be peaceful.