Cuban Embargo Essay

After 50 years of a deep freeze in the relationship between the United States and the Cuban, relations are beginning to thaw. The tension between the United States and Cuba began to rise when Fidel Castro came to power. Castro raised taxes on American imports, and instituted trade with the Soviet Union. This caused U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower to strike back by freezing Cuban assets in America, enforcing a near-full trade embargo, slash import quota for Cuban sugar, and cut of diplomatic ties with the Cuban government. From there on the relationship between the two countries only worsened. In April 1961 under President John F Kennedy the Bay of Pigs operation was launched. In this operation a brigade of CIA-sponsored exiles were sent to
During these visit he was able to meet the Castro brothers, spread the message of hope, and hold a mass for the Cuban people. When Francis got off his plane in Cuba he was greeted immediately by the current President of the Council of the State of Cuba, Raul Castro. These two influential figures then went off to a private room to discuss issues both religious and political such as poverty, inequality, the current state of the Cuban economy, and the influence that the United States’s embargo has had. During the meeting, Francis offered to act as a mediator between the officials of Cuba and the United States. He suggested that the role of a government should be to do what's best for the people living in each nation and called for a "revolution of tenderness" (Pope Francis). The next day, Francis went to Fidel Castro’s (Raul’s brother and ex-president) house for a private meeting which has been described by those in attendance as “friendly and informal.” During this visit, they discussed issues which have affected the majority of Cubans such as environmental degradation. At the end of the visit, the Holy Father gave Fidel Castro two epistles. In return Castro gave Francis a book entitled “Fidel and Religion”.