George W. Bush's position on

Cuba: Ever since 1959, when Fidel Castro took power in Cuba, the United States has concerned itself with ridding the island nation of Castro's communist ways. A trade embargo has been in place for over 40 years that prevents Cuba from getting most goods from and shipping any goods too its closest neighbor, the United States. There are also specific travel bans in place and restrictions on sending products to and receiving products from the tiny island nation.

Candidate's Position: Bush's stance on Cuba has been consistent. He demands that the embargo not be lifted, and has introduced new restrictions on Cuban-Americans and their families. These include: when and how often visits to the island can be arranged, people with out relatives are no longer able to travel to Cuba at all, the definition of "family" was redefined and uncles, cousins, etc., are no longer included. Americans have also been told they are only able to send money and gifts on a limited basis.

Quotation from the Candidate: "The United States stands opposed to such tyranny and will oppose any attempt to weaken sanctions against the Castro regime until it respects the basic human rights of its citizens, frees political prisoners, holds democratic free elections, and allows free speech." Bush said in a statement from the White House (2001). He also said in the same statement, "It is important that we uphold and enforce the law to the fullest extent with a view toward preventing unlicensed and excessive travel, enforcing limits on remittances, and ensuring humanitarian and cultural exchanges actually reach pro-democracy activists in Cuba."

Assessment of the Proposal:

Positive: Researcher could not find any international affairs offices, officials, or otherwise involved parties to support the Presidents stance.

Negative: The Washington Office of Latin America expressed many concerns about Bush's new restrictions on Cuba: "The measures have been conceived to respond to U.S. domestic political concerns, rather than as serious foreign policy steps. The measures will hurt Cuban-Americans, Cuban families, U.S. students, Cuban dissidents and others, but won't succeed in bringing down the Castro government. The policy proposals are expensive and a misuse of government resources. Some of them are provocative and dangerous. The policy overall is misguided and unlikely to bring change to Cuba." (2004)

Comparison: Senator Kerry also does not support lifting the embargo, but does support the free flow of information to Cuba, lifting the travel ban, allowing the sale of food and medicine, but also supports censuring Cuba for human rights violations. He also supports the progress towards peace and democracy in Cuba and is in favor of lifting the remittance cap, which would allow Americans to freely send money to family on the island. 

Link to Kerry's Cuba page.