Proclamation 3447: Embargo on All Trade with Cuba 

I.

Whereas the Eighth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Serving as  Organ of Consultation in Application of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal  Assistance, in its Final Act resolved that the present Government of Cuba is  incompatible with the principles and objectives of the Inter-American system; and, in  light of the subversive offensive of Sino-Soviet Communism with which the  Government of Cuba is publicly aligned, urged the member states to take those steps  that they may consider appropriate for their individual and collective self-defense; Whereas the Congress of the United States, in section 620(a) of the Foreign Assistance  Act of 1961 (75 Stat. 445), as amended, has authorized the President to establish and  maintain an embargo upon all trade between the United States and Cuba; and Whereas the United States, in accordance with its international obligations, is prepared to take all necessary actions to promote national and hemispheric security by isolating the present Government of Cuba and thereby reducing the threat posed by its  alignment with the communist powers: 

Now, Therefore, I, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America, acting  under the authority of section 620(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (75 Stat. 445),  as amended, do 

1. Hereby proclaim an embargo upon trade between the United States and Cuba in  accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 of this proclamation. 

2. Hereby prohibit, effective 12:01 A.M., Eastern Standard Time, February 7, 1962, the  importation into the United States of all goods of Cuban origin and all goods imported  from or through Cuba; and I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury  to carry out such prohibition, to make such exceptions thereto, by license or otherwise, as he determines to be consistent with the effective operation of the embargo hereby  proclaimed, and to promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to  perform such functions. 

3. AND FURTHER, I do hereby direct the Secretary of Commerce, under the provisions  of the Export Control Act of 1949, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2021-2032), to continue to  carry out the prohibition of all exports from the United States to Cuba, and I hereby  authorize him, under that Act, to continue, make, modify, or revoke exceptions from  such prohibition. 

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States  of America to be affixed. 

DONE at the City of Washington this third day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-sixth.

JOHN F. KENNEDY
By the President:

Dean Rusk,

Secretary of State

III.

Whereas the Eighth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Serving as  Organ of Consultation in Application of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal  Assistance, in its Final Act resolved that the present Government of Cuba is  incompatible with the principles and objectives of the Inter-American system; and, in light of the subversive offensive of Sino-Soviet Communism with which the  Government of Cuba is publicly aligned, urged the member states to take those steps  that they may consider appropriate for their individual and collective self-defense; Whereas the Congress of the United States, in section 620(a) of the Foreign Assistance  Act of 1961 (75 Stat. 445), as amended, has authorized the President to establish and  maintain an embargo upon all trade between the United States and Cuba; and Whereas the United States, in accordance with its international obligations, is prepared  to take all necessary actions to promote national and hemispheric security by isolating  the present Government of Cuba and thereby reducing the threat posed by its  alignment with the communist powers: 

Now, Therefore, I, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America, acting  under the authority of section 620(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (75 Stat. 445),  as amended, do 

1. Hereby proclaim an embargo upon trade between the United States and Cuba in  accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 of this proclamation. 

2. Hereby prohibit, effective 12:01 A.M., Eastern Standard Time, February 7, 1962, the  importation into the United States of all goods of Cuban origin and all goods imported  from or through Cuba; and I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury  to carry out such prohibition, to make such exceptions thereto, by license or otherwise,  as he determines to be consistent with the effective operation of the embargo hereby proclaimed, and to promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to  perform such functions. 

3. AND FURTHER, I do hereby direct the Secretary of Commerce, under the provisions of the Export Control Act of 1949, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2021-2032), to continue to  carry out the prohibition of all exports from the United States to Cuba, and I hereby authorize him, under that Act, to continue, make, modify, or revoke exceptions from  such prohibition.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States  of America to be affixed. 

DONE at the City of Washington this third day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of  America the one hundred and eighty-sixth. 

JOHN F. KENNEDY
By the President:

Dean Rusk,

Secretary of State

Kyle Carrero Lopez

Kyle Carrero Lopez was born to Cuban parents in northern New Jersey. He is the author of MUSCLE MEMORY, the chapbook winner of the 2020 [PANK] Books Contest. He co-founded LEGACY, a Brooklyn-based production collective by and for Black queer artists. His work is published or republished in The Nation, TriQuarterly, The Atlantic, Best New Poets, Best of the Net, and elsewhere.

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