Jimmy Carter critiques U.S. economic sanctions: 'I have seen how this strategy can be cruel to innocent people'

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter took to The Washington Post on Friday to make known his concerns about the United States' economic sanctions on countries such as North Korea.

"In my visits to targeted countries, I have seen how this strategy can be cruel to innocent people who know nothing about international disputes and are already suffering under dictatorial leaders," Carter writes. "The primary objective of dictators is to stay in office, and we help them achieve this goal by punishing their already suffering subjects and letting them claim to be saviors."

Carter describes his visits both to Cuba and North Korea, but he says the situation in North Korea is "more tragic" because unlike Cuba, the people of North Korea do not receive remittances from friends or relatives who have journeyed to the U.S., nor do they have access to the same levels of education, healthcare, or food sources.

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"As in Cuba, the political elite in North Korea do not suffer," Carter writes. "The leaders' all-pervasive propaganda places the blame for deprivation on the United States, not themselves."

Read Carter's full editorial over at The Washington Post.