Why are Americans not legally allowed to go to Cuba?

Answer 1

During the Cold War or"proxy wars" Cuba's Fidel Castro overthrew the dictator that the United States had originally set up to be a puppet government; the US lost control of Cuba and Castro joined the side of Russia (then USSR). Then the Cuban Missile Crisis followed... Relations between Cuba and the US quickly deteriorated and the US set in place a trade and travel embargo (meaning that nothing goes in or out of Cuba from/to the US). The embargo that is currently holding people back from traveling to Cuba is a relic and needs to be removed. The US, being as stubborn as possible, will likely not lift the the embargo until Castro dies because they believe it is symbolic or some other reason (it has NO practical reason).

Answer 2

We are not allowed to go to Cuba because we aren't allies with Cuba. The US imposed an embargo when the Cuban government took American owned assets under government control. The Cold War also strained the relationship when Cuba allied itself with Russia. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a very scary time and even though I was very young, I was well aware that things were tense and dangerous.

Answer 3

Cuba is very poor and there are few economic opportunities. There is also a lack of personal and political freedom due to the repressive nature of the Castro government. These are the basic reasons why many Cubans leave.

Answer 4

Cuba is ruled by a communist government, it has been under the control of the Castro brothers for over 40 years. People are often incarcerated for speaking out against the government or for trying to perform any protests including passive ones. Food is scarce and the economy is tough. Feeling locked in can make many want to escape, even if this means getting on a raft and trying their luck at sea.

Answer 5

The nations of Cuba and the US do not have good diplomatic relations with each other. They became enemies during the Cold War period, when Cuba was a very close ally of the USSR, and even though the Cold War has ended and the US now has good relations with Russia and with all the formerly communist nations of the Warsaw Pact and the US even has good relations with China, a nation that still practices some form of communism (one which Karl Marx would find hard to recognize as communism) the grievances with Cuba have never been resolved. Cuba nationalized a lot of US owned property at the time of the revolution. Cuba has shot down US planes. Cuba has offended the US in many different ways. The US is holding a grudge.

*As of December 2014 the United States has relaxed travel restrictions for citizens traveling to Cuba. It is now possible for most people to travel to Cuba easily. 500,000 US residents traveled to Cuba in 2014 and more people will visit in 2015.

Answer 6

Because there is an economic embargo carried out by the US government, including freedom of movement: there are no flights or ships from any US city into Cuba.