"Offering the first full-length analysis of the Helms-Burton law, Joaquin Roy presents a review of the background, evolution, and international consequences of this controversial legislation, enacted in 1996. He argues that the law, the dominant pillar supporting American policy in Cuba, is a codification of four decades of a U.S. embargo aimed at discouraging foreign investment and hastening the collapse of the Castro regime.". "Roy examines each provision in the law in illuminating detail. Instead of causing the collapse of the Cuban government, he maintains, the law has encountered world-wide opposition and has provided Castro with a political excuse to justify his regime's economic shortcomings."--BOOK JACKET.