Cuban Trade Embargo

In the summer of 1960, the United States set in motion a process that has gradually grown stronger ever since. This process was the Cuban Trade Embargo. The process began when the Cuban government ordered two U.S. oil companies, Standard and Texaco, to refine Soviet crude oil at their Cuban refineries. The two companies refused, and to no one’s surprise, the Cuban response, on July 1 of that year, was to nationalize both the companies’ holdings in Cuba. This, though, was only one of the three main factors that led to the Cuban Trade Embargo. The second reason was to raise the costs to the Soviets, and to the Cubans, of maintaining their alliance and pursuing policies detrimental to U.S. interests. Third, to reduce the resources Cuba could pour into assistance to revolutionary movements, especially in Latin America. At the time all of these objectives were considered completely rational. They were, after all, formulated against the backdrop of the Cold War and Castro’s vows to spark revolution throughout the southern hemisphere. But this was 1960, a time of crisis and uncertainty among the nation. In today’s world, revolution amidst a country is almost unheard of, the Soviet Union has fallen, and we still

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