At the recent Summit of the Americas, Latin American governments roundly condemned the U.S. embargo on Cuba. — only days after Pope Benedict XVI had added his voice against the embargo.

Speaking at his departure from Havana airport, Benedict said Cuba could build "a society of broad vision, renewed and reconciled," but added that it was more difficult "when restrictive economic measures, imposed from outside the country, unfairly burden its people."

Despite universal criticism, however, the U.S. government has persisted with a policy that has brought it derision not only in Latin America but throughout the world. The lack of benefits of such a policy has been of no concern to several U.S. administrations.