The embargo

Yesterday in my Latin American Politics class, my student Michael asked about the tightening of sanctions against Cuba, and I had to admit I hadn’t seen the news. The government has created a new task force to crack down more on violations of sanctions, such as traveling to Cuba. What an utter and complete waste.

Acosta acknowledged that the agencies already work together on embargo enforcement. He said it was "an appropriate time to make it clear to the community that we seek to enforce this law aggressively."

The “appropriate time" seems to be when Republicans fear the upcoming election results, and want to be sure they shore up the anti-Castro Cuban American vote.

The rules, Acosta said, are meant to speed up a transition to democracy in Cuba.

I see. Does it matter that such rules have not achieved that goal now in over 40 years? I would love to hear precisely how the embargo will ever do anything except hurt Cubans and bolster Castro.