History Of The Embargo Act

The Embargo Act was first passed in 1807 which basically made all exports from

the United States illegal. It was sponsored by President Thomas Jefferson and enacted by

Congress. The United States imposed an arms embargo on Cuba on March 14, 1958 during

the armed conflict between rebels led by Fidel Castro. Castro socialist government finally came

to power on January 1, 1959. In May 1960, the Cuban government began to openly purchase

regular armaments from the Soviet Union. In July 1960, the United States reduced the Cuban

import quota of brown sugar to 700,000 tons, under the Sugar Act of 1948 and the Soviet Union

responded by agreeing to purchase the sugar Instead. The goal was to force Britain and France

to respect
The ultimate goal was the overthrow

Castro and the establishment of a non-communist government friendly to the United States.

The bombers missed many of their targets and left most of Castro's air force intact. As news

broke of the attack, photos of the repainted U.S. planes became public and revealed American

support for the invasion. President Kennedy cancelled a second air strike.

In 1959 when Fidel Castro finally came to power in an armed revolt that overthrew

Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. The CIA had used obsolete World War II B-26 bombers, and

painted them to look like Cuban air force planes. The bombers missed many of their targets and

left most of Castro's air force intact. As news broke of the attack, photos of the repainted U.S.

planes became public and revealed American support for the invasion. President Kennedy

cancelled a second air strike.On April 17, the Cuban-exile invasion force, known as Brigade

2506, landed at beaches along the Bay of Pigs and immediately came under heavy fire. Cuban

planes strafed the invaders, sank two escort ships, and destroyed half of the exile's air
1,400-man invasion force would disembark under cover of darkness and launch a

surprise attack. Paratroopers dropped in advance of the invasion would disrupt transportation

and repel Cuban forces. Simultaneously, a smaller force would land on the east coast of Cuba

to create confusion.The first mishap occurred on April 15, 1961, when eight bombers left

Nicaragua to bomb Cuban airfields. The United States was unable to carry out the attack

successfully. Some exiles escaped to the sea, while the rest were killed or rounded up and

imprisoned by Castro's forces. Almost 1,200 members of Brigade 2056 surrendered, and more

than 100 were killed. The brigade prisoners remained in captivity for 20 months, as the United

States negotiated a deal with Fidel Castro. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy made personal

pleas for contributions from

In conclusion, Former secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said

“The Cuban people have waited long enough for progress to come,” “The Cuba embargo needs

to go, once and for all. We should replace it with a smarter approach that empowers the