Two Perspectives on the Cuba/U.S. Conflict

There are different views among the international community that have tried to resolve the diplomatic and economic disputes between the United States and the Cuban government. We can describe some of them as conservative and the vast majority as liberal ideas.


Conservative Viewpoint

Under the conservative world view, the United States plays the most important role in speaking out against Cuba. Since the early 1900's, the U.S. has tried to preserve the status quo as "good neighbor" to Latin American states, acting as a constant observer of the "well being" of Latin American states. The U.S.'s attempts to affect Cuba's political stability have been, since 1959, very unsuccessful. It is, perhaps, Cuba's failure to maintain a stable government that has encouraged the U.S. to be persistent in playing the role of "good neighbor" to Cuba and its people.

The Cuban revolution of1959 came into the picture as an interruption of the process of political reconciliation which the U.S. had begun with Batista--a process which was meant to establish a government which would be sympathetic to the U.S.'s "good neighbor" policies. The revolutionary leader Fidel Castro adopted, after the revolution, a socialist type of government influenced by the liberal movement of socialist thought in Havana University. It was this event which changed the tone of U.S. foreign policy towards Cuba. Since then, the U.S. has taken a conservative stance with its relations with Cuba, trying to get Cuba back on track with its intended plans for political stability in Latin America. Among other measures taken to pressure the Cuban government into democracy, the U.S. has attempted to interfere with any type of commercial trade between the socialist island and the rest of the world, given political asylum to those who wished to leave Cuba (though recently this privilege has been denied to Cubans), applied diplomatic pressure, and, most recently, tightened the 35 year-old economic embargo imposed on Cuba.


Liberal Viewpoint

The Cuba/U.S. conflict, though bipolar in nature, has gained the attention of countries from the Americas and the world-over. These countries have taken a stance which is partially supportive of Cuba--mainly because they believe that they have the right to establish free trade with Cuba, regardless of the country's form of government. They see trade sanctions against Cuba as not only limiting the economic freedoms of Cubans, but also harming the international flow of goods. Other countries, like Canada, have taken a more political and diplomatic role in the conflict. Canada has, on several occasions, condemned the U.S.'s economic embargo against Cuba as unjust. In conjunction with many other countries, mainly the larger European countries which are presently searching for an ever-expanding global economy, Canada has ignored the United States' sanctions to discourage international trade with Cuba.

Liberals believe in the freedom and sovereignty of the individual. In liberal considerations, individual rights outweigh governmental concerns, and so the liberal perspective is supportive of Cuba in the respect that all citizens should be free to exercise their own opinions. This includes freedom from economic sanctions which threaten the well-being and financial security of the Cuban people. At the same time, though, the liberal stance is not entirely anti-America. Along with economic freedom, liberals believe that the people of Cuba should also be free to make political and social choices of their own. Therefore, they fundamentally agree with the United States' attempt to institute a democratic government which provides each individual with a voice in his/her government. The liberals simply disagree with the steps America has taken to promote this governmental change.

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NOTE: This page expressedly represents the conservative and liberal views on the issue at hand. These perspectives do not necessarily represent those of the authors, course, or Earlham College.

Copyright ©1997, Aaron Quiros