Should the United States lift its embargo on Cuba?

The purpose of the embargo on Cuba was to try to bring down Cuba's communist government and make it a democracy. A democracy is a government where people elect their government representatives. Cuba does have elections, but only one party, the Communist Party, is legal.

Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar recently said it was time to recognize that the embargo has not worked. Do you think an embargo can help force a country to change? Many U.S. businesses would like very much to be able to sell their goods to Cuba. Many people say the embargo has hurt the Cuban people. And some people think lifting the embargo would not only help the Cuban people, it would also open Cuba up to American ideas. Do you think this would happen?

Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, a Cuban American, is against lifting the embargo. He says that Cuba's government is hard on its people, and prevents them from leaving the country. He believes that it is foolish to lift the embargo until Cuba makes changes and gives its people more freedom. Many older Cuban-Americans feel the same way. Can you understand why? In polls of all kinds of Americans, people are split almost evenly between wanting to keep the embargo and wanting to end it. What do you think? Should the United States end its embargo on Cuba? You can vote on this question, and send the results to NewsCurrents. We'll announce the results in a future issue. VOTE HERE