Submitted by neil, Jan 29, 2008 23:38

It grates on many that the United States embargo on Cuba 'shouldn't be there" , and is somehow causing suffering in Cuba. Without the embargo, Cuba would have access to drugs and other essential materials that the embargo prevents them from obtaining is the story. But the reality is that every other country on the planet is free to trade with Cuba, and many do - Canada, Spain, China for starters - with not surprisingly more or less disappointing results. Any drug that they could get from the U.S., the Cubans can get from the rest of the world, no problem.

The economy of Cuba has been what it is for now about fifty years. If trade were the issue, access to goods, full access to trade with the rest of the world would have long since changed that. But it hasn't. Since about 1967, food has been rationed in Cuba - rice and beans - with each family unit entitled to one chicken a month, if they can find one.

What does that have to do with the U.S. when Cuba can trade freely with the rest of the world?

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