#8 - Analysis of CQ Researcher Pro/Con argument

Pro/Con: Will the new Cuba policy strengthen human rights in Cuba?

“Pro” thesis: The new Cuba policy will strengthen human rights in Cuba.

1. After 50 years of experience with the embargo, it has not weakened the repressive apparatus of the Castro government, strengthened Cuba's civil society, given us the leverage we need to press for change, or given the Cuban people the hope they crave.
2. For decades, in capitals around the world, the Cuban government has succeeded in making our embargo and its isolation from the United States a bigger issue than its own repression. Shifting the blame to America has worked for the Castro government.
3. The new Cuba policy, by removing the embargo, will enable the Cuban people to focus on their own repression and will result in strengthening human rights there in the long run.

It would be good to see some citations of evidence for #1 and #2; compare conditions early on in the embargo with 50 years later to show that nothing has changed, and give examples of how the Cuban government has chastised the U.S. embargo “in capitals around the world.”