Back الحظر الأمريكي على كوبا Arabic Блокада на Куба Bulgarian Bloqueig econòmic dels Estats Units a Cuba Catalan Embargo der Vereinigten Staaten gegen Kuba German Εμπάργκο των Η.Π.Α. κατά της Κούβας Greek Usona embargo kontraŭ Kubo Esperanto Embargo estadounidense a Cuba Spanish Kubaren kontrako estatubatuar bahimendua Basque تحریم آمریکا علیه کوبا Persian Yhdysvaltain Kuuban vastainen kauppasaarto Finnish
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The United States embargo against Cuba is an embargo preventing U.S. businesses and citizens from conducting trade or commerce with Cuban interests since 1960. Modern diplomatic relations are cold, stemming from historic conflict and divergent political ideologies. U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba are comprehensive and impact all sectors of the Cuban economy. It is the most enduring trade embargo in modern history.[1][2] The U.S. government influences extraterritorial trade with Cuba. The embargo has had a significant effect on the economic development of Cuba. As a result, the embargo has shaped regional geopolitics and America's sphere of influence in Latin America and the Caribbean. The embargo has faced international criticism for its severity and impact on Cubans.
The U.S. government first launched an arms embargo against Cuba in 1958, with their energy and agricultural sectors targeted in 1960. The Cuban Revolution led to nationalization and a trade war with the U.S. that prompted seizure of American economic assets, including oil refineries. The U.S. retaliated with a total embargo on Cuban trade, with exception for food and medicine. Cuba held nuclear missiles for the Soviet Union during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which forced the U.S. to fully blockade the island. The embargo was briefly loosened by the Obama administration in 2015 during the Cuban thaw, before the Trump administration tightened it sharply in 2017, citing human rights issues in Cuba. In 2025, the second Trump administration imposed a "total pressure" embargo on Cuba.
The embargo is enforced mainly through the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Cuban Assets Control Regulations of 1963, the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, the Helms–Burton Act of 1996, and the Trade Sanction Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000.[3][4] Its legal framework reflects a complex mixture of federal law, entrenched and codified across multiple branches of government. Relations remain tense due to stark differences on immigration, counterterrorism, civil and political rights, human rights, electoral interference, disinformation campaigns, humanitarian aid, trade policy, financial claims, fugitive extradition and Cuban foreign policy.[5]
- ^ "Understanding the Failure of the U.S. Embargo on Cuba". WOLA. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
- ^ Nouri, Sarah (November 20, 2022). "Time To End The US Embargo Against Cuba". Human Rights Pulse. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ "The US Embargo Against Cuba: Its Impact on Economic and Social Rights". Amnesty International. September 2009. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
- ^ "Cuban Democracy Act of 1992". U.S. Department of State.
- ^ "Case Studies in Economic Sanctions and Terrorism: US v. Gta 5 (1960– : Castro)" (PDF). Peterson Institute for International Economics. October 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2013.