Big Changes Coming Between U.S. and Cuba

Photo courtesy of "US News"

By: Neel Lakhanpal '16

On December 17th, President Obama made a historic announcement regarding the relations between Cuba and our country. He told Americans and Cubans that a lot of change was coming for the two nations, and that he has a vision of bringing normalcy back to our ties with the communist island. Obama was acting to change actions taken decades ago, when in late 1960, President John F. Kennedy signed a trade embargo against Cuba as a response to Cuba’s alignment with the USSR during the Cold War period. This embargo restricted all Cuban imports to the U.S. and strictly controlled US exports to Cuba. The goal in doing this was to punish the Cuban regime for oppressing its citizens and allying with communist Russia.

The government hasn’t changed, however, and the embargo has proved quite ineffective. The effects on the Cuban economy have been devastating ever since. Since the Cuban economy relied in many ways on exports to America, especially sugar and agricultural products, Cubans suffered immensely without being able to sell their goods to Americans. Today, despite Cuba’s normal relations with most other countries, the effects continue. Millions of Cubans live in poverty and the average Cuban makes just around $6,000 a year, roughly a tenth of what the average American makes in a year. Additionally, Cuba is one of just a handful of countries with which America has no diplomatic ties -- there isn’t even a Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C..

The President’s announcement looks to change all of that in the long term, to our and Cuba’s benefit. To start, he wants to establish a Cuban embassy in Washington and an American embassy in Havana, then lift the trade embargo. Down the road, the ultimate goal would be for a democratically elected government to take over in Cuba.

For Cuba, these actions would help in countless ways. More trade with the U.S. would mean more money for the people and a healthier economy, and U.S. businesses setting up shop in Cuba would help both economies. Car companies search to sell to 11 million Cubans, as do technology companies. Hotels and cruise lines hope to bring Americans to vacation on the vibrant tropical island, if eventually allowed. American companies could prosper, while adding money to the Cuban economy.

For now, this doesn’t mean all that much for Americans without family ties to Cuba. For Cubans and Cuban-Americans, however, this is a very big deal. They are presented with realistic prospects for more prosperity and hopefully a less oppressive government. They look at this opportunity in awe and hope for a better future. In America, companies are enticed by this virtually untapped market lying just below Florida. And, eventually, all of us in Maryland might be hearing about someone’s recent vacation to Cuba, unthinkable two months ago