Viewers and readers in the United States are overwhelmed with repeated arguments for why the time has come to lift the U.S. embargo that President John F. Kennedy imposed on Cuba in 1962.

Who is right and who is wrong? That’s the question – to bring Shakespeare into this polemic.

I find it amusing that some Cuban Americans, from both conservative and liberal leanings, argue that it is time to lift the U.S. embargo. Their logic being that after 49 years of embargo, Cuba retains a totalitarian government. I understand the logic of this argument all too well. Its genesis is the feeling that they are tired of waiting for a democratic change to occur in Cuba. However, my magnanimity does not extend to an acknowledgement of the rightness of their argument.

I believe that the argument posited by these Cuban Americans is wrong. The United States ran out of easy solutions to restore democracy to Cuba when it botched up the Bay of Pigs Invasion in April of 1961. This was the initiative designed to topple the Castro regime. We are clear on the true motives of this undertaking. However, let’s be clear that the reason for imposing the trade embargo on Cuba has never been to bring about a regime change in the Caribbean island. The reason for the embargo was to punish the Cuban Government for appropriating (stealing, in plain English) all U.S. properties in Cuba without offering a cent to compensate their rightful owners.

Cuban officials have made repeated statements in the past about the ineffectiveness of the U.S. embargo, and about how it’s not worth it to spend a second discussing it. This, of course, is all bluffing on their part – depending on the audience that they are trying to manipulate. So, when they are talking to the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) delegates, Cuban officials brag about how the Cuban Revolution has survived the constant aggression to their homeland by the U.S. embargo. They resort to all kinds of silly slogans that have failed to resonate with average Cubans a long time ago, like “Patria o Muerte, Venceremos!” (Country or Death, we will prevail in the end!”). Naturally, these CBC delegates walk away highly impressed with their Cuban hosts, and take back their propaganda to the chambers of the U.S. Congress. Subsequently, the Cuban officials pat themselves on the back for having done their job, and splurge with fancy dinners at restaurants that average Cubans lack access to.

But, then, these same Cuban officials make totally different arguments when trying to influence different audiences. This was the case when Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez delivered a speech on September 27, 2011, at the United Nations General Assembly by stating that the cruel and inhumane U.S. embargo had cost Cuba $975 billion. In other words, Rodriguez was lobbying the world community to put pressure on President Obama to lift it. Thus, the embargo has been highly effective in punishing the Cuban Government for its Mafioso-like demeanor against American business owners.

Even more important to Americans, the U.S. embargo has been highly effective in preventing the Cuban authorities to use the $975 billion to bankroll terrorist groups from attacking the U.S. There is plenty of evidence showing the Cuban Government’s intentions to harm the United States. For example, the State Department included Cuba on the 2010 list of state sponsors of terrorism. As recently as 2009, Water K. Myers and his wife were arrested and charged with conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban Government and conspiracy to communicate classified information to Havana. Up to 20 Cuban intelligence agents and collaborators walked to U.S. embassies around the world in the six months after the 9/11 attacks and offered fabricated information on terrorism threats – which distracted U.S. law enforcement officials from pursuing legitimate leads and putting Americans in harm’s way. Ten days after 9/11, U.S. authorities arrested the Pentagon's top Cuba analyst, Ana Belen Montes, on charges of spying for Havana. Let’s not forget that Fidel Castro, while visiting Iran in May 2001, proudly proclaimed – just four months before 9-11 – that “Iran and Cuba, in cooperation with each other, can bring America to its knees.” And who can forget the trial and conviction in federal courts of the infamous Cuban Five, who were convicted in Miami of conspiracy to commit espionage, conspiracy to commit murder, and other illegal activities in the United States.

Thus, the U.S. embargo has kept American safe from terrorist acts. This threat is real. Measured by this standard, the U.S. embargo has been an overwhelming success. I do believe, however, that the thing that should be lifted is not the U.S. embargo – but the smoke screen that Cuban officials have spread around the world. The U.S embargo is not responsible for the hardships that Cubans are suffering on a daily basis. It is the imposition of a failed economic system that is responsible for their suffering.