{
  "id": "94-759",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "94-759",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 316362,
      "date": "1994-09-29",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T21:04:26.565941",
      "title": "Cuba-U.S. Relations: Should the United States Reexamine Its Policy?",
      "summary": "This document also available in  PDF Image .\n  The recent exodus of Cubans seeking to reach the United States has prompted many observers,\nincluding some Members of Congress, to call for a post-Cold War reexamination of U.S. policy\ntoward Cuba. Some are calling for a moderation of U.S. policy toward Cuba, with policy approaches\nranging from a strategy of so-called \"constructive engagement\" to a strategy of \"relative\nnormalization.\" This report outlines the current U.S. policy approach toward Cuba and discusses\nthe option of moderating policy and what this might entail; it then examines the arguments in favor\nof and arguments opposing such a policy approach. \n  Those asserting that the United States should moderate its policy toward Cuba believe that\nsowing the seeds of reform -- through increased exchanges, trade, and diplomatic dialogue -- will\nstimulate and strengthen forces for peaceful change in Cuba. Supporters of such an approach stress\nthe importance to the United States of avoiding violent change in Cuba, with the prospect of a mass\nexodus to the United States and the potential of involving the United States in a civil war scenario. \nThey argue that since Castro's demise does not appear imminent, the United States should espouse\na more realistic approach in trying to induce change in Cuba. Supporters of changing policy also\npoint to broad international support for lifting the U.S. embargo, to the losses to U.S. businesses\nbecause of the embargo, and to the increased suffering of the Cuban people because of the embargo. \nProponents of change argue that the United States should adhere to some consistency in its polices\nwith the world's few remaining Communist governments, and also maintain that moderating policy\nwill help advance human rights in Cuba.\n  Opponents of changing U.S. policy maintain that the current two-track policy of isolating Cuba,\nbut reaching out to the Cuban people through measures of support, is the best means for realizing\npolitical change in Cuba. They point out that the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 sets forth a road\nmap for what steps Cuba needs to take in order for the United States to normalize relations, including\nlifting the embargo. They argue that softening U.S. policy at this time without concrete Cuban\nreforms would boost the Castro regime politically and economically, enabling a continuance of the\nCommunist regime. Opponents of softening U.S. policy argue that the United States should stay the\ncourse in its commitment to democracy and human rights in Cuba; that sustained sanctions can work;\nand that the sanctions against Cuba have only come to full impact with the loss of large subsidies\nfrom the former Soviet bloc. Congress has gone on record for continuing to isolate the Castro\nregime while at the same time increasing support for the Cuban people. Opponents of softening\nU.S. policy argue that Cuba's failed economic policies, not the U.S. embargo, are the causes of the\neconomy's rapid decline. They maintain that U.S. businesses are not losing out because of the\nembargo since Cuba has one of the world's worst investment environments.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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}