Why did the U.S. place an embargo on Cuba?
The United States Embargo against Cuba (described in Cuba as el bloqueo, Spanish for “the blockade”) is a commercial, economic, and financial embargo imposed on Cuba on February 3, 1962. A U.S. arms embargo had been in force since March 1958 when armed conflict broke out in Cuba between rebels and the Batista government. In July 1960, in response to the expropriations by the Cuban government, the United States reduced the Cuban import quota of brown sugar by 7,000,000 tons, under the Sugar Act of 1948; the Soviet Union responded by agreeing to purchase the sugar instead, and Cuba took further actions to take over American businesses. At present, the embargo, which limits American businesses from conducting business with Cuban interests, is still in effect and is the most enduring trade embargo in modern history. Despite the existence of the embargo, the United States is the fifth largest exporter to Cuba (5.1% of Cuba’s imports are from the US). The government claims that the problems
