<P> Some American business leaders openly call for an end to the embargo . They argue, as long as the embargo continues, non-U.S. foreign businesses in Cuba that violate the embargo, do not have to compete with U.S. businesses, and thus, will have a head start when and if the embargo is lifted . </P> <P> José Azel, a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban - American Studies, University of Miami and the author of the recently published book, Mañana in Cuba (Tomorrow in Cuba) took a different view: </P> <P> Currently over 190 nations engage economically and politically with Cuba while the United States remains alone in enforcing its economic sanctions policy . If indeed U.S. policy is deemed as one case of failure to change the nature of the Cuban government, there are 190 cases of failure on the same grounds . By a preponderance of evidence (190 to 1) the case can be made that engagement with that regime has been a dismal failure . </P> <P> Some religious leaders oppose the embargo for a variety of reasons, including humanitarian and economic restrictions the embargo imposes on Cubans . Pope John Paul II called for the end to the embargo during his 1979 pastoral visit to Mexico . Patriarch Bartholomew I called the embargo a "historic mistake" while visiting the island on January 25, 2004 . A joint letter in 1998 from the Disciples of Christ and the United Church of Christ to the U.S. Senate called for the easing of economic restrictions against Cuba . While also opposing the embargo, the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches stated, "We did not understand the depth of the suffering of Christians under communism . And we failed to really cry out under the communist oppression ." Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Minister Louis Farrakhan have also publicly opposed the embargo . On May 15, 2002 former President Jimmy Carter spoke in Havana, calling for an end to the embargo, saying "Our two nations have been trapped in a destructive state of belligerence for 42 years, and it is time for us to change our relationship ." The US bishops called for an end to the embargo on Cuba, after Pope Benedict XVI's 2012 visit to the island . </P>

When will the embargo on cuba be lifted