66 Years Later, US-Cuba Blockade Remains a Flashpoint

April 6, 2026, marks 66 years since the U.S. blockade against Cuba was first outlined in a classified memorandum authored by Lester Mallory, a senior U.S. official at the time. Known as the “Mallory Memorandum,” the document laid the groundwork for a strategy of economic pressure aimed at undermining support for Fidel Castro’s nascent government. The memorandum explicitly targeted Cuban livelihood, advocating economic hardship as a method to alienate internal support for the regime. Cuban Foreig