End to the U.S. embargo on Cuba is coming sooner than you thinkv
End to the U.S. embargo on Cuba is coming sooner than you think
WOLA • February 11, 2016
By Marc Hanson and Sarah Kinosian / Washington Office on Latin America
Over the past year, the relationship between the United States and Cuba has advanced significantly toward normalization. Embassies have been exchanged, agreements on direct mail service and environmental conservancy have been signed, cooperation in law enforcement has deepened, and very soon commercial flights and credit cards may be available. However, after 55 years, the United States still has an embargo on Cuba that restricts trade and heavily regulates travel. This not only hurts Cubans, but cuts against the best interests of the American people.
Only Congress can lift the embargo. Until recently this seemed unlikely, but the tides are changing. Increasingly, the American public is expressing their desire to end trade and travel restrictions on Cuba. The most dramatic shift is evident among Republicans and Cuban-Americans, two groups that conventional wisdom understands to be opposed to normalizing relations. In fact, they are not. Major Cuban-American Republican donors are contributing to the campaign to end the embargo.
Given this new dynamic, it is becoming more difficult for hardline embargo supporters in Congress to ignore their constituencies or the benefits that increased trade and engagement with Cuba would bring to both nations. Here are six signs that momentum is growing in Congress:
1. The American people want this. Polls say most Americans, including the majority of Cuban-Americans, are increasingly in favor of lifting the embargo. Pew’s most recent poll showed 73 percent of Americans, including 59 percent of Republicans, are in favor of ending the trade embargo. Regarding the freedom to travel to Cuba, a CBS News poll found that 81 percent of Americans support ending travel restrictions, including 71 percent of Republicans.
More:
http://progresoweekly.us/end-to-the-u-s-embargo-on-cuba-is-coming-sooner-than-you-think/
