Helms-Burton Act
I. INTRODUCTION
Following the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the United States shifted its focus to Cuba with the intentions of freeing the country from its communist ideologies and establishing a democratic government. The U.S. government passed the Helms-Burton Act in an attempt to pressurize Cuba into restructuring. Its enactment was controversial, provoking immediate and widespread debate around the world as to whether certain provisions of the Act violated international law principles and treaties to which the United States was a party. Opposition to the Act came from most countries outside of the United States. Many nations attempted to counter the Helms-Burton Act by implementing legislation that enabled their own citizens to take actions that would defeat the purpose of the Act. Canada and Mexico were just two of the countries to take action against the Helms-Burton Act.
This is a critical review of an article entitled The Helms-Burton Law and its Antidotes: A Classic Standoff? The article is co-authored by Jorge F. Pérez-López and Matias F. Travieso-Diaz, Esq. and discusses the essentials of the Helms-Burton Act, foreign criticisms, Helms-Burton antidotes, and implementations of the Act and its antidotes. It was published in the Spring 2000 volume of the SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF LAW & TRADE IN THE AMERICAS.
This critical review essay contains five sections. The first section will provide a summary of the Helms-Burton Act including a brief description of its four titles. The second section will discuss some of the foreign criticisms of the Act, specifically by the European Union. The third segment will discuss antidotes and implementations of the Act and will again focus on the EU. Section four will evaluate the law review article including the conclusions drawn by the co-authors of the article in review. The final section will discuss my conclusions after having read this article.
II. SUMMARY OF THE LAW REVIEW ARTICLE
A.
Following the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the United States shifted its focus to Cuba with the intentions of freeing the country from its communist ideologies and establishing a democratic government. The U.S. government passed the Helms-Burton Act in an attempt to pressurize Cuba into restructuring. Its enactment was controversial, provoking immediate and widespread debate around the world as to whether certain provisions of the Act violated international law principles and treaties to which the United States was a party. Opposition to the Act came from most countries outside of the United States. Many nations attempted to counter the Helms-Burton Act by implementing legislation that enabled their own citizens to take actions that would defeat the purpose of the Act. Canada and Mexico were just two of the countries to take action against the Helms-Burton Act.
This is a critical review of an article entitled The Helms-Burton Law and its Antidotes: A Classic Standoff? The article is co-authored by Jorge F. Pérez-López and Matias F. Travieso-Diaz, Esq. and discusses the essentials of the Helms-Burton Act, foreign criticisms, Helms-Burton antidotes, and implementations of the Act and its antidotes. It was published in the Spring 2000 volume of the SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF LAW & TRADE IN THE AMERICAS.
This critical review essay contains five sections. The first section will provide a summary of the Helms-Burton Act including a brief description of its four titles. The second section will discuss some of the foreign criticisms of the Act, specifically by the European Union. The third segment will discuss antidotes and implementations of the Act and will again focus on the EU. Section four will evaluate the law review article including the conclusions drawn by the co-authors of the article in review. The final section will discuss my conclusions after having read this article.
II. SUMMARY OF THE LAW REVIEW ARTICLE
A.