{
  "id": "RL30628",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30628",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 104487,
      "date": "2001-01-11",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:30:19.994941",
      "title": "Cuba: Issues and Legislation In the 106th Congress",
      "summary": "Cuba remains a hard-line Communist state, with a poor record on human rights. Fidel Castro\nhas\nruled since he led the Cuban Revolution, ousting the corrupt government of Fulgencio Batista from\npower in 1959. With the cutoff of assistance from the former Soviet Union, Cuba experienced\nsevere economic deterioration from 1989-1993, although there has been some improvement since\n1994 as Cuba has implemented limited reforms. \n Since the early 1960s, U.S. policy toward Cuba has consisted largely of isolating the island\nnation through comprehensive economic sanctions. The Clinton Administration essentially continued\nthis policy of isolating Cuba. The principal tool of policy remains comprehensive sanctions, which\nwere made stronger with the Cuban Democracy Act (CDA) in 1992 and the Cuban Liberty and\nDemocratic Solidarity Act in 1996, often referred to as the Helms/Burton legislation. Another\ncomponent of U.S. policy consists of support measures for the Cuban people. This includes private\nhumanitarian donations and U.S.-sponsored radio and television broadcasting to Cuba. Under this\nrubric of support for the Cuban people, President Clinton announced several policy actions in March\n1998. These included the resumption of direct charter flights and cash remittances to Cuba, and the\nstreamlining of licensing procedures for the sale of medicines. In January 1999, the President\nannounced additional measures, including a broadening of permissible cash remittances, increasing\ndirect charter flights, expanding people-to-people contact, and authorizing the sale of food and\nagricultural inputs to independent entities in Cuba. \n Although U.S. policymakers agree on the overall objective of U.S. policy toward Cuba to\nhelp bring democracy and respect for human rights to the island there have been several schools\nof thought about how to achieve that objective. Some advocate a policy of keeping maximum\npressure on the Cuban government until reforms are enacted, while continuing current U.S. efforts\nto support the Cuban people. Others argue for an approach, sometimes referred to as constructive\nengagement, that would lift some U.S. sanctions that they believe are hurting the Cuban people, and\nmove toward engaging Cuba in dialogue. Still others call for a swift normalization of U.S.-Cuban\nrelations by lifting the U.S. embargo. \n Numerous measures were introduced in the 106th Congress that reflected the range of views on\nU.S. policy toward Cuba. Legislative initiatives proposed both easing and increasing sanctions\nagainst Cuba. In the end, legislation passed reflected both approaches: it allowed the export of food\nand medicine to Cuba, but prohibited any U.S. financing, both public and private, of such exports. \nTravel to Cuba for tourism was also prohibited. Another law facilitated enforcement of anti-\nterrorism judgments in U.S. courts to allow for the payment of a $187.6 million 1997 judgment\nagainst Cuba to be paid from Cuba's frozen assets in the United States to the families of three U.S.\nCitizens killed when Cuba shot down two U.S. planes in 1996. President Clinton waived the\nprovision, however, upon signing the rest of the bill into law.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
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  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Intelligence and National Security"
  ]
}