Well clearly the US was trying to influence Cuba with the embargo... That is the purpose of an embargo, to influence another state. I am not saying that is a good thing, just that clearly that is what they were trying to do.
And since they were trying to do that, I think they could have done it in a better way.
And in any case, it shouldn't be about influencing as surely is right now for the powerful Goliat, but about doing the right thing at the very least.