The embargo was put in place on February 3, 1962 following nationalizations expropriating American companies and remains so to this day. Since the 2000s, exports of food and medicine have been legal, but subject to enormous restrictions. Many observers accuse the Cuban government of multitudes of human rights violations. In 1960, an assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs in the United States wrote that causing Cubans to hunger and despair was the only way to push them to overthrow the government. He also mentioned that the US government must use all possible means to undermine the economic life of Cuba. The losses caused by the embargo to the Cuban economy in 2014 amounted to more than 116 billion dollars.