We are making progress in Cuba!

May 22, 2008

US official says Cuba embargo successful

HAVANA - A US trade embargo in place 46 years against Cuba has been successful, US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said on Wednesday, even though the island's communist government remains.

Mr Gutierrez said the embargo, imposed in 1962 to undermine the government of Fidel Castro, deprived Cuban leaders of resources they would have used for 'ill-focused goals.'

'The purpose of the embargo is to deny resources to a regime who is clearly anti-American, who doesn't like our country, and in that regard the embargo has been extremely successful,' Mr Gutierrez said in a phone interview from Washington.

He spoke to Reuters after President George W. Bush announced the United States would let its citizens send cell phones to Cubans, in a small crack in the embargo that appeared to be a political tit-for-tat for recent Cuban reforms.

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http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest+News/World/STIStory_239864.html