President Obama makes a Historic visit to Cuba

Dylan Snyder
Staff Writer
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   President Obama made history when he visited Havana, Cuba because this was the first time in nearly ninety years that a United States president has made that trip. A giant American delegation, which consisted of about eight hundred to twelve hundred people, landed in Havana the weekend of March Twenty-first planning on ending tension that is carried over from the Cold War and adding to Obama’s legacy.

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      Since 1961, the United States had a trade embargo with Cuba, meaning that we are not able to trade goods and services and  are not allied together during war. It is not possible to travel to Cuba without going through another country. The tension and trade embargo are the cause of the Cuban Missile Crisis and Cold War. The Cuban Missile crisis was a thirteen day stand-off between the US and Cuba over the fact that Cuba had nuclear weapons and threatened to use them. The US blockaded the island with naval ships. Many countries around the world saw this as a big issue that could or eventually lead to war. This is mostly the whole concept of the Cold War .There was very little fighting at all, but a lot of the world powers had built up their supply of weapons and nuclear weapons causing major tensions and division between close countries. Cuba was the closest neighbor and biggest threat to the US.  Despite everything that happened on these days , a deal was reached on October 28, 1962.
      The embargo had a negative effect on Cuba because they did not have the same access to certain goods and services. The country is not nearly as far as the United States or many other countries technologically. They also still drive around cars produced in the 1950s and 1960s. One of the main or common ways for a country to obtain goods and services is through trade. The Cubans not being able to trade has them basically stuck in the past and he has hurt their economy. They have 1.5% of the population living under the poverty line, and there is a 4.4% inflation rate. Not only is making relations with the U.S. a step closer to making peace, but it could also help their economy. Hopefully Mr. Obama’s last visit will be the first of many and the two countries more towards peace; in the future, Cuba will hopefully do what is best for their nation and establish a more capitalistic society.