Em nome da democracia? As consequências das sanções econômicas impostas pelos Estados Unidos na sociedade cubana

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the impacts of economic sanctions imposed by the United States on the human rights of Cuban civil society, especially in the health and education sectors. To this end, the time frame between the years 1959 and early 2000s was established, focusing on the 1990s. Cuba has suffered the consequences of these measures since the 1960s, shortly after the Revolution was victorious in 1959. Like every Latin country with a colonial past, the island suffered several influences from the United States from its process of independence to the Revolution, a fact that changed relations between Cuba and the United States and made them more conflicting. Desiring to become independent of all spheres of influence of the United States, added to the context of the Cold War, Cuba dared to create an alternative to capitalist and neoliberal policies, led by the United States, implementing the socialist bias with emphasis on social justice in its way of doing politics. This new policy towards Cuba generated significant gains for Cuban society, increasing their quality of life. However, in this context of ideological conflict, promoted by the Cold War, the United States was concerned about the island influencing other countries to leave their sphere of influence in view of the gains generated in Cuba, as they feared the island’s rapprochement with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. With this in view, the United States sanctioned the island and its justifications for maintaining sanctions have changed over time. Thus, the research argues that this country implemented economic sanctions in a coercive way in order to press and maintain its hegemony in the region. However, this action ended up causing severe side effects to Cuban society and the gains that the Revolution brought to society. In view of this, the question that the work proposes to answer is: how do the economic sanctions imposed in a coercive manner by the United States impact the Human Rights of Cuban society? In order to answer it and analyze such relations, the research is structured in three chapters: the first will analyze important concepts that will help to understand the coercive action of the United States in Cuba, the second will deal with the relations between both countries, as well as analyzing economic sanctions and, finally, the third chapter will analyze the impacts on human rights of Cuban society arising from sanctions. Methodologically, the research used primary sources, such as internal laws and regulations of Cuba and the United States, as well as secondary sources of great relevance to the subject.