U.S. Economic Sanctions Through 1996 (CRS Report for Congress)
Premium Purchase PDF for $24.95 (26 pages)
add to cart or
subscribe for unlimited access
Pro Premium subscribers have free access to our full library of CRS reports.
Subscribe today, or
request a demo to learn more.
| Release Date |
Nov. 21, 1996 |
| Report Number |
95-248 |
| Authors |
Dianne E. Rennack and Mark P. Sullivan, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
This report first provides an overview of U.S.- Cuba relations and U.S. policy toward Cuba. It
then
examines the history and legislative and executive authorities of the various components of U.S.
sanctions against Cuba, including aid, trade, and other restrictions through 1996.
U.S.-Cuba relations deteriorated sharply in the early 1960s when Fidel Castro began to build
a repressive communist dictatorship and moved his country toward close relations with the Soviet
Union. Since then, U.S. policy has consisted largely of isolating Cuba through a comprehensive
economic embargo. The often tense nature of the U.S.-Cuba relationship is illustrated by: the ill-
fated April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion; the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis; Cuba's support for
insurgencies and revolutionary governments abroad; the 1980s Mariel boatlift; the 1994 exodus of
Cubans to the United States; and Cuba's February 1996 shootdown of two U.S. civilian planes.
There was some movement toward normalization of relations in the 1970s, but Cuba's military
involvement and support for revolution abroad impeded improved relations. Under the Reagan
Administration in the 1980s, U.S.-Cuba relations remained tense because of Cuba's military
involvement in Africa and its increasing support for revolutionary movements and governments.
In the 1990s, the breakup of the Soviet Union effectively ended Cuba's client-state relationship with
that nation and resulted in rapid deterioration of the Cuban economy. As this deterioration was
taking place, Congress tightened sanctions on Cuba in 1992 through passage of the Cuban
Democracy Act, although this Act also included measures of support for the Cuban people. And
Cuba's action of shooting down two U.S. civilian planes in February 1996 prompted President
Clinton to support congressional approval of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, an
initiative containing additional sanctions on Cuba.
Since the early 1960s, the United States has imposed a range of economic sanctions on Cuba,
the most prominent of which is a comprehensive embargo prohibiting trade with Cuba. Other
sanctions include a prohibition on U.S. bilateral assistance to Cuba, a prohibition on U.S. economic
assistance to countries or international organizations and programs supporting Cuba, a prohibition
on U.S. arms sales or arms transfers to Cuba, a prohibition on Cuban sugar imports, and a
prohibition on U.S. Export-Import Bank activities in Cuba. In addition, the Cuban Assets Control
Regulations of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control set forth detailed and
comprehensive restrictions on the blocking of Cuban assets in the United States and the transfer of
assets to Cuba. The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996 contains additional
potential sanctions, including most prominently, a provision holding any person or government that
traffics in U.S. property confiscated by the Cuban government liable for monetary damages in U.S.
federal court.
