CUBAWhat’s up with us and this

country?I KNOW! RIGHT?!

Where is Cuba?

90 miles south of Florida.Slightly smaller than Pennsylvania.US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay. Guantanamo Naval Base is leased by the US and remains part of Cuba- Will be closing soon.

During his 2008 Presidential campaign, Barack Obama described Guantanamo as a "sad chapter in American history" and promised to close down the prison in 2009. After being elected, Obama reiterated his campaign promise on 60 Minutes and the ABC program "This Week."

On January 22, 2009, President Obama stated that he ordered the government to suspend prosecutions of Guantanamo Bay detainees for 120 days in order to review all the detainees cases to determine whether and how each detainee should be prosecuted. A day later, Obama signed an Executive Order stating that Guantanamo Detention Camp would be closed within the year. His plan encountered a setback when a Guantanamo Judge rejected the plan.

Our Senate passed an ammendment blocking funds to the camp. As of now 193 prisoners remain.

History of Cuba

Freed from Spain in 1898.

Only country in the western hemisphere that is still Communist.– Gov’t leaders have strong control of the

economy & society.

History of Cuba

Cuba was a democratic nation at one time.

1959 is when Fidel Castro led a revolution to take over Cuba.

Castro set up Cuba as a communist state with help from Soviet Union (now Russia).

Castro’s Revolution

Relationship with Cuba

1934-1958 U.S. was close with Dictator Batista.Batista encouraged American businesses to grow in Cuba.Batista was good to the U.S., but bad to the people of Cuba.Fidel Castro promised Cubans freedom.January 1, 1959- Batista fled the country and Castro took power.

Fidel Castro

As soon as Castro took power, he broke ties with the U.S. and sided with the Soviet Union.Castro nationalized (bring under government control) farms & factories.Castro took property that belonged to American businesses.

Fidel Castro

U.S. placed an embargo: a ban on trade.In the first three years of Castro’s rule, more than a million people left the country.Most that left were professionals such as teachers, doctors, lawyers, etc…Cuba relied greatly on help from the Soviet Union until 1989.Most Cubans are now poor & Cuba’s economy has fallen apart.

Embargo: Yes or No?Yes

Cuba trades with other countriesCommunism is the problemCuba has rich farmlandCommunism creates no competition, no motivationNo foreign owned businessesTravel restrictions

NoOnly three other countries agree with the embargoWe trade with other communist countriesIntent of embargo was to get the citizens to overthrowCastro is no threat to usEmbargos are good in the time of warEmbargo is hurting Cubans, not the gov’t

Cuba Today

Cuba Today

First time since 1982, Cuban-Americans can freely travel between here and Cuba.Since 2004, you could only visit once every three years and send no more than $300 every three months.1977-1982 was the last time all restrictions were lifted.

Cuba TodayA lot of pressure on President Obama to drop the embargo.By June 1, all Latin American nations will have normalized their relations with Cuba.President Obama is working with all other Latin American nations to ease the economic crisis, global warming, and keeping people safe.Obama wants to keep the boycott to use as leverage to get Cuba to stop treating their people bad and move towards democracy.

Embargo? Yes or No?

What do you think?