The Cuba embargo: a history of interest group influence and tantalizing “what ifs?”

This month saw the first steps towards the normalization of relations between the US and Cuba after a year and a half of secret negotiations. But how has the embargo persisted for so long, and were any opportunities to speed its end missed? David W. Wise writes that the embargo has remained in place due to the influence of interest groups who benefited from it, and that but for the Lewinsky scandal, a papal visit to Cuba in 1998 could have led to a much earlier thaw in relations.