as she took a stand on Cuba, too. I learned she seemed to represent the interest of Arkansas' rice farmers, who really wanted to resume honorable relationships with Cuba, and sell their product to the little country.
Just found this article:
Arkansans helped change tide on Cuban Embargo
GUEST COMMENTARY
Butch Calhoun, former Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture | Feb 04, 2015
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President Obama recently announced that the U.S. would restore diplomatic ties with Cuba and begin to loosen some of the economic sanctions now in place. I will give credit where credit is due and agree with the president’s decision and actions. However, the Arkansas blood running through my veins forces me to highlight a few hardworking Arkansans who deserve a pat on the back as well. There have been many Arkansas politicos who have supported lifting the embargo over the years and but for their perseverance and efforts, we might not be as close as we are to stopping that dog from barking up the embargo tree.
Since 1961, the United States has had a trade embargo against Cuba that prevents widespread commerce with the country. The embargo’s original purpose was to destabilize the communist Castro regime in hopes that the country would eventually open up to democratic reforms. While I won’t argue the original intent of the embargo, it is evident that more than half a century later, the embargo has failed to reach its goal.
President Obama recently announced that the U.S. would restore diplomatic ties with Cuba and begin to loosen some of the economic sanctions now in place. I will give credit where credit is due and agree with the president’s decision and actions. However, the Arkansas blood running through my veins forces me to highlight a few hardworking Arkansans who deserve a pat on the back as well. There have been many Arkansas politicos who have supported lifting the embargo over the years and but for their perseverance and efforts, we might not be as close as we are to stopping that dog from barking up the embargo tree.
Former Arkansas Congressmen Marion Berry, Bill Alexander, and Vic Snyder, and Sen. Blanche Lincoln traveled to Cuba to highlight a need for rethinking the embargo during their tenure on Capitol Hill. And if memory serves, they all caught a little flack for their efforts at the time. All of them fervently believed that the best medicine for the Castro regime was a healthy dose of U.S. capitalism. More recently, Sen. John Boozman and Congressman Rick Crawford have also stated publicly that they support increasing trade with Cuba, showing that this issue isn’t about politics, its about helping Arkansas farmers.
And let’s not forget Hillary Clinton, our former First Lady of Arkansas who advocated for reexamining the embargo during her tenure as Secretary of State. One would have to believe that her position influenced our president to move forward with this decision. Why does it matter to us Arkies, you ask? Not only would lifting the embargo help promote democratic reforms in Cuba, but it would help Arkansas’s economy by letting us sell more rice, poultry, soybeans and wheat to our neighbors in the Caribbean.
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Arkansas is a natural fit for trade with Cuba. A large portion of the Cuban diet is rice. Cubans prefer high-quality long-grain rice, and Arkansas is the largest producer of rice in the country. Arkansas farmers produce the highest quality long-grain rice in the world. Right now Cuba imports rice of lower quality than ours from Asia and South America. Wouldn’t it benefit the Cuban consumer and the Arkansas economy to buy that rice from right here in the Mid-South?
More:
https://www.deltafarmpress.com/government/arkansans-helped-change-tide-cuban-embargo
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