Is the U.S. Embargo of Cuba the Cause of Cuba’s Economic Woes?

by | Feb 7, 2000

It is Cuba's totalitarian economy (socialism) that is the cause of her economic woes.

It is Cuba’s totalitarian economy (socialism) that is the cause of her economic woes.

A common argument by communist sympathizers in the American press is that the U.S. embargo of Cuba the cause of Cuba’s economic woes.

This argument ignores the fact that every country in the world (other than the United States and Israel–which may explain why the Left hates Israel) has normal trade relations with Cuba. As wealthy as Americans are, is the United States the only country in the world that has wealth? The fact is all the countries in Europe, South America, Asia, etc. have trade relations with Cuba. So the real question is: why isn’t Cuba rich from its trade with all the countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and South America?

The reason why Cuba is so poor is that individual rights (the political basis of capitalism makes it a fountain of wealth) are routinely violated in Cuba. In Cuba, there is no private property (an entity referred to as “the people” own all the land, i.e., Castro), there are no private employers (the only employer is the state), and there are no private employees (everyone is a serf to the state). The only honest way to support oneself in Communist Cuba is in the “black market.”

It is Cuba’s totalitarian (i.e., pure socialist) economy that is the cause of her economic woes. It is Cuba’s absolute socialist system that should be condemned — not the U.S. embargo. To recommend that the United States drop the embargo with Cuba after Castro ‘nationalized’ (robbed) the property of the American companies who built them is unjust to the Americans Castro looted.

Why not apply the same principle that brought down the Apartheid regime of South Africa, i.e., moral condemnation and a world-wide economic boycott. The same policy that brought down Apartheid in South Africa is the same policy that will bring down the Castro Regime — if it is allowed to work.

Perhaps, the real reason that American Leftists want the U.S. to establish normal relations with Cuba is that once it does so, they can further bleed Americans taxpayers dry to support the Castro regime, as America has done to support other bankrupt, socialist regimes throughout its history.

To send money to Cuba will only further enrich Castro, as all foreign funds invested there do now (since foreign investors don’t pay Cubans, but pay the Castro regime, from which the actual workers only receive a minuscule portion). It is the looters in these foreign countries, ready to “profit” from slave labor, that prop up and further empower the Castro regime. It is they along with Dictator Fidel Castro who should be condemned.

Mark Da Cunha is the editor of Capitalism Magazine and creator of capitalism.org. Twitter: @capitalismorg

The views expressed above represent those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors and publishers of Capitalism Magazine. Capitalism Magazine sometimes publishes articles we disagree with because we think the article provides information, or a contrasting point of view, that may be of value to our readers.

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