Welcome To Havana...

“Welcome to Havana
Smokin Cubanas with Castro in cabanas” – Jay-Z: Otis

Although I’m sure he means no harm by it, this line really irks me.

I was born in New York, however my father was born in Cuba and my mothers father was also Cuban. So I still have a lot of family members who live in Cuba.

For those that don’t know, Cuba has had trade embargos placed on it by the  U.S government since 1962, when Fidel Castro nationalized all U.S properties. The embargo was increased by Bill Clinton in 1999. Some saw this as an attempt by Clinton  to woo the Cuban community in Florida (many of them exiles), who through lobbying are able to pressure the government into increasing the embargo.

Americans and foreign subsidiaries are forbidden from doing business in Cuba and  are also forbidden from travelling directly to Cuba from the U.S.

The problem with the embargo is that the only ones affected by it are the everyday citizens of Cuba, not the government who are multimillionaires.

On Tuesday, every member of the UN General Assembly (bar Israel and U.S) denounced the embargo which has had devastating affects on the Cuban economy and it’s people.

END THE TRADE EMBARGO

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