After Cuba gained independence from Spain in 1898, US influence over the island grew. The two countries traded heavily until Fidel Castro rose to power in a bloody coup, and Cuba expropriated many American-owned land holdings. The US then enforced a prohibition of all exports to Cuba in 1960. Two years later, the US blockaded the island in order to compel the Soviet Union to dismantle its nuclear missile base. Although the word "embargo" exists in Spanish, what is the US embargo called in Cuba? Discuss (http://forum.thefreedictionary.com/postst68893_US-Government-Prohibits-All-Exports-to-Cuba--1960-.aspx)