Cuba is a modern day Masada. These rebels cannot be allowed in the shadow of the empire. The brutal sanctions ensure that they serve as an example of the suffering that will come to anybody who does not submit.

Masada was crushed in a brutal invasion. The 21st-century US Military is phenomenal at invading countries (look at the rapid falls of Iraq, Afghanistan, and ISIS, we are substantially worse at occupation but that’s besides the point). If we wanted to crush Cuba we would have done it the second communism fell.

The reason we still have an embargo on Cuba is because pro-embargo Cuban-American refugees are a huge minority of a swing state, and sending a child away from his abusive father to Cuba literally cost the Democrats the 2000 election (incidentally leading to at least 2 of those 3 invasions). Arguably, a stupid technicality like that is worse than if it was a Masada-type situation, but what can you do

The families on Masada killed themselves before the Romans broke in with their constructed ramp.

And those who do submit can look forward to being more like Haiti.

There is one other segment of the USA which likely loves the embargo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_sugar_economy

what's your point supporting dictators? The people who dismiss the embargo knows nothing of history and they will repeat the same mistakes. EVERY cuban that manages to escape that prison island supports the embargo (except few loud lobbies of the cuban government).

> what's your point supporting dictators?

When we support most dictators in the world, but embargo Cuba, it sounds less like a moral stance, and more like hypocrisy.

it stinks democrat here

Can you explain why, for those of us 8000km away?

Probably for the same reason that Germans escaping the Worker's Paradise that was the German Democratic Republic (aka East Germany) weren't big fans of the communist dictatorship that tried to murder them for wanting to emigrate and was extremely corrupt, extremely authoritarian and often looked like they missed the point of 1984 and read it as an instruction manual.

The Cuban Americans in Florida are strongly opposed to opening up to Cuba. To get their support Republicans tend to be opposed to these changes.

> what's your point supporting dictators?

Where was the US embargo when Saudi dictatorship murdered and dismembered a journalist on foreign soil?

Sounds like you k ow nothing of history, US currently supports about 20 dictators around the world.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Jamal_Khash...

The US supports brutal dictators all around the world and has for decades. Cuba just didn't play nice with american business interests. Season 2 of the podcast Blowback covers our history with Cuba incredibly well.

> They haven't changed due to the US embargo for decades. So what is the point?

Precedent, I assume. If you start an embargo or other sanctions, and then drop it when the entity shows that they're not going to back down, you're sending a signal to others: show that you're not going to back down and we'll drop the sanctions because what's the point? And that will dull the blade of the threat.

It's similar to negotiating with hostage takers and terrorists. Once you do it, you encourage everyone to take hostages in order to "negotiate" whatever they want done.

I think keeping an embargo and hurting a country for 60 years is enough to send a signal. In any case, the US government isn't doing it motivated by some intertemporal consistency (and thinking of the next 200 years of foreign policy), they do it for the cuban swing voters

> Besides the Cuban community in the US, which I believe are mostly in Flordia, who still cares about cutting off Cuba?

Israel: https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-only-country-at-un-to-j...

Seven years ago they voted no on a nonbinding resolution that was doomed to fail. I doubt they care.