ABSTRACT
The application of economic sanctions against Cuba by or at the behest of the United States encompasses more than two decades. In that period, significant variations have occurred in the objectives pursued, in the sanctions applied and in the effects achieved. The objectives pursued by the United States in 22 years of economic warfare against Cuba, despite variations in design and scope, can be classified under two major headings: overthrow and containment. The first major economic sanction imposed by the United States was the cutting of Cuba's sugar quota by 700,000 tons in July 1960, which resulted in about US $80 million in lost income to the Castro regime. Subsequent presidential proclamations extended the exclusion of Cuban sugar from the US market on a temporary basis. United States economic sanctions were just one of many factors which have contributed to Cuba's economic short-comings.
