The American Trade Embargo Against Cuba should be eliminated

C1. The Cuban government is a totalitarian dictatorship which suppresses their own people. The question I present for my opponent is why should the United States economically help a country, which has no vital strategic importance to the United States, and goes completely against the US's ideology (communist totalitarian government vs. Capitalist Republican government)? Cuba wants the United States to completely end our blockade but, in return they want to concede nothing. They will not relax their policy of oppressing their own people. So once again I ask, why should the United States end a blockade when doing so would result in strengthening an oppressive government? It is a matter of principle that we keep the blockade. It is the only leverage the United States holds to try and loosen the Cuban people from the yoke of this totalitarian regime. a. The Cuban economy is nationalized. The Cuban economy is nationalized. So by ending this blockade it would result in money flowing into the Central government allowing Cuba to pursue their communist agenda abroad and oppress their own people's civil liberties. This police state of Cuba controls the lives of 11 million people. Why should the US contribute to this oppression by opening trade with Cuba? C3. The Castros hate the United States. Ending a blockade would not solve this hate. "Lifting the embargo won't normalize relations, but instead legitimize -- and wave the white flag to -- Fidel's 50-year fight against the Yanquis, further lionizing the dictator and encouraging the Latin American Left" (1). They are not going to end their policy of hating the United States. Now let's take a step back. Cuba is very close to the Continental United States. If we open free trade relations with Cuba other countries, who hate the United States, will decide that since Cuba can help them and now has a more modern infrastructure to open a military alliance. Do you know what countries these include? China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. Iran would not hesitate to use the advantage that Cuba would bring to them militarily. They will send missiles to Cuba. Guess what country they'll be aimed at. The United States. It will be a repeat of the Cuban Missile crisis (the reason the . By opening trade with Cuba the United States allows Cuba to modernize their infrastructure, allow them to build a more powerful military, and give countries such as Iran an incentive to want to create a permanent military alliance with Cuba. Furthermore, with resources gained from the end of the blockade, Cuba would team up with "rulers of nations like Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia to advance socialism and anti-Americanism in the Western Hemisphere. " (1) How does this help the United States at all with their foreign policy? It does not. Giving in to "evil" only begets more evil. C4. The USA has tried to negotiate for the end of trade embargo in the past "The U. S. has tried numerous times to broker a deal with the Castro regime to lift the embargo, but he has outright rejected any negotiations" (2). The United States has tried to negotiate for the ending of the embargo. Guess what? Castro did not want negotiate. Until Cuba is willing to negotiate with the United States over the embargo it should stay in place. 1. . http://www.nypost.com... 2. . http://www.alligator.org...