Cuba and a teachable moment

*Obama will use spring summit to bring Cuba in from the cold
While reading this reference to Cuba, “…but you still have the embargo..” I was looking for the author to explain what a political embargo is and to list them as it applies to Cuba. In other words, teach me something!

(President) Obama's proposed Cuba measures would only partly thaw a policy frozen since John F Kennedy tried to isolate the communist state across the Florida Straits. "It would signal new pragmatism, but you would still have the embargo, which is the centrepiece of US policy," said Erikson. +

Further into the article, the author mentions “economic and trade embargo”. Again I wonder what are the specifics. Come on now, learn me something!

President Kennedy imposed an economic and trade embargo on Cuba on 7 February 1962 after Fidel Castro's government expropriated US property on the island. Known by Cubans as el bloqueo, the blockade, elements have been toughened and relaxed under succeeding US presidents. Exceptions have been made for food and medicine exports. George Bush added restrictions on travel and remittances. +

In the final paragraph, there is the heading, “The sanctions regime” which thoroughly confused this neophyte as to how countries have sanctions and embargos place on them and most of all, the words used interchangeably and the difference, if any. So far, you ‘fussing me!

The sanctions regimes
-No Cuban products or raw materials may enter the US
-US companies and foreign subsidiaries banned from trade with Cuba
-Cuba must pay cash up front when importing US food
- Ships which dock in Cuba may not dock in the US for six months
-US citizens banned from spending money or receiving gifts in Cuba without special permission, in effect a travel ban
-Americans with family on the island limited to one visit every three years. +

Questions: What does an official sanction or embargo look like on paper? Who issues it? How is it sustained? Is there a review process?

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Ms. Susan Tsvangirai
I, like others, was saddened and shocked over the death of the wife of Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister, Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai. It was announced yesterday she died as the results of an automobile accident. I was even more grieved to hear the dire shape of the supplies at the hospitals and the conditions of the roads in Zimbabwe in relationship to the death of Ms. Tsvangirai. Add to the tragedy suggestions the Zimbabwe “sanctions” are working is cruel even if true. There is a horrible irony surrounding the needless death of Ms. Susan Tsvangirai.
Fighting for the dignity of my Ancestors,
God bless Bill Gates, WPFW, C-Span and the spirits of the unborn for the help,
BB
* http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/08/cuba-obama-administration