Lifting the embargo and opening trade with the Castro regime would only serve to benefit the government rather than the impoverished Cuban citizens. The government practically owns the Cuban economy and foreign trade is carried through the Cuban agencies that support the regime. For example, all foreign companies are obligated to pay in hard currency (such as dollars and euros) to the Cuban government. However, from these wages, the state pays in the local currency which are in Cuban pesos. Only a small percentage goes to all the employees working (Napier). As a report by the Brooking Foundation described it: “If the firm pays the employment agency $500 a month and the employment agency pays the workers 500 pesos, over 90 percent of the wage
