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US Official: Embargo Kept Cuba From Meddling

Policy starved Castro's military of funds

By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser User

Posted Sep 20, 2007 6:05 PM CDT

(Newser) – The decades-old US trade embargo against Cuba has been "an absolute and resounding success," the Cuban-born US commerce secretary said today. Carlos Gutierrez told a Latin America conference that the policy has stopped the island's communist government from orchestrating military attacks. But the embargo, in place since 1962, has repeatedly come under fire from human rights groups and the UN.

The UN General Assembly has voted annually against the embargo since 1992, and will probably do so again next month, Reuters reports. But Gutierrez said that the US cannot be blamed for Cuba's economic failures. "When they have had resources, they've had military adventures," he said. "When they have had resources, the Cuban people haven't seen a better life."

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez talks to guests and participants at the Americas Conference in Coral Gables, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez talks to guests and participants at the Americas Conference in Coral Gables, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)   (Associated Press)
U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez talks to participants at the Americas Conference in Coral Gables, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez talks to participants at the Americas Conference in Coral Gables, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)   (Associated Press)
In this photo released by Cuba's daily newspaper Juventud Rebelde, Cuba's leader Fidel Castro is shown in Havana on Jan. 29, 2007. Castro claims Cuba's government saved the life of President Reagan by giving American officials information about an assassination plot in 1984.  (AP Photo/Juventud Rebelde)
In this photo released by Cuba's daily newspaper Juventud Rebelde, Cuba's leader Fidel Castro is shown in Havana on Jan. 29, 2007. Castro claims Cuba's government saved the life of President Reagan by...   (Associated Press)
Cuba's acting President Raul Castro reviews the troops during the welcoming ceremony for Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Patrick Manning at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana on Friday,  Sep. 7,  2007. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
Cuba's acting President Raul Castro reviews the troops during the welcoming ceremony for Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Patrick Manning at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana on Friday, Sep....   (Associated Press)
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