Jim McGovern: U.S. Policy Toward Cuba Must Change

The United States' policy toward Cuba is a failed relic of the Cold War and must change, warned Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern in a message published today on social media.

“A good place to start: END the embargo,” which “for 60 years, has done nothing but cause suffering to ordinary Cubans,” said the lawmaker, who represents Massachusetts in the House of Representatives.

McGovern indicated that it was an honor to speak with experts at the FP4America 2026 Leadership Summit about how to correct this policy. “That must change,” stressed McGovern, who serves as the Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee.

The congressman, one of the most active figures on Capitol Hill in favor of rebuilding ties with the island, introduced a new bill in February to lift the blockade against Cuba. The initiative rejected decades of flawed foreign policy against the Caribbean nation and advocated for the use of diplomacy and dialogue.

His proposal (H.R. 7521, the United States-Cuba Trade Act) was a direct response to unilateral coercive measures enacted by the Donald Trump administration on January 29, which aimed to impose a total oil blockade on the island.

“The embargo is not only absurdly ineffective, but it is counterproductive and harms the very (...) ordinary people and their families who are denied food, medicine, and basic goods,” McGovern stated at the time.

During the Barack Obama administration (2009–2017), the lawmaker participated in the process to help ease the embargo and promote diplomacy and bilateral collaboration.

However, a first Trump term in the White House (2017–2021) followed, during which some of Obama's policies toward Cuba were reversed, causing a setback in the rapprochement between the two countries.

In its second term (2025–2029), the Trump administration is taking the reinforcement of the blockade to its ultimate expression, while the threat of military aggression looms over the Caribbean nation.

On February 3, 1962, then-U.S. President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, signed the decree establishing the embargo against Cuba. Four days after that order was issued, Washington's illegal and inhumane policy became official, and it endures to this day.

Foreign Policy for America (FP4America) is a non-partisan national organization based in Washington, D.C., that works to strengthen support for principled American leadership.