Embargo

Spanish embargar — to bar, restrain. From em- (in) + barra (bar, obstruction). Originally referred to a government order detaining ships in port. Extended to prohibition on trade in general.

Used as a foreign policy tool — the US embargo on Cuba has lasted more than sixty years. Embargoes are theoretically targeted at governments; in practice they affect civilian populations who depend on imported goods. The gap between the stated target (a government) and the actual effect (the people) is a persistent critique of embargo as a policy instrument.