Will U.S. Trade with Cuba Promote Freedom or Subsidize Tyranny?

For more than four decades, the U.S. government has enforced a comprehensive economic embargo against Cuba in an effort to weaken the communist regime of Fidel Castro. While the Bush administration strongly supports the embargo, a bipartisan coalition in Congress wants to encourage more direct contact between Cubans and Americans. This summer, the House will consider amendments to repeal the travel ban, allow private financing of food and medicine sales, and completely lift the embargo. Speaking in favor of reform will be Rep. Jeff Flake, a leader of the Cuba Working Group, and Philip Peters, an expert on the Cuban economy; supporting the embargo will be Ambassador Dennis Hays, vice president of a leading Cuban-American organization.

Read the event transcript (PDF, 55 pp, 251 kb)