U.S. senator urges trade, travel in Cuba (Dem. Max Baucus)

[Judi Lynn]

U.S. senator urges trade, travel in Cuba
Baucus says 'democracy will take root and flourish' under changes


08:02 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 16, 2003

By TRACEY EATON / The Dallas Morning News


HAVANA – When a U.S. senator journeyed to Cuba over the weekend, he took an unusual approach, at least for a visiting dignitary: He urged that the island adopt Western-style democracy – just what his socialist hosts want to avoid.

Yet it was all hugs and handshakes during Max Baucus' visit because he supports other ideas with which the Cuban government agrees. He wants an end to the longtime ban on U.S. trade with Cuba, and he supports the sale of American food and produce to the island.

On Sunday, the Democratic senator announced that Cuba planned to buy up to $10 million in food from Montana. A law passed in 2000 allows American producers to sell to Cuba on a cash-only basis. Cuba has since purchased more than $500 million in products.

Mr. Baucus led a 28-member delegation that included U.S. Rep. Dennis Rehberg, D-Mont., political aides and businesspeople from Montana. The senator leads a push in the Senate to take the teeth out of laws preventing American tourists from visiting the island. (snip/...)

http://www.dallasnews.com/world/cuba/stories/091603dnintcuba.55850.html

(free registration required)

[Osolomia]

1. Cuba trade? Have a cigar

Cuba trade? Have a cigar
By Jeff Gibson,
Montana Standard Opinion Page Editor
16 September 2003

It's not a done deal yet, but the groundwork done by Sen. Max Baucus and Rep. Dennis Rehberg in Cuba eventually could lead to big things for Montana.

Baucus and Rehberg just announced from Cuba that they have a "memo of understanding" that should lead to Cuba buying $10 million worth of Montana grains, live cattle and dry beans.

U.S. restrictions bar members of Congress from conducting trade missions to Cuba, and members of Congress cannot sign trade accords. Officially, Baucus and Rehberg went to Cuba on a "fact-finding" trip. But they did talk to Cuban trade officials, and cleared the way for Montana's private sector to sign agreements for the $10 million in sales.

Ten million dollars is small potatoes in global trade, concedes Rehberg assistant Brad Keena.

What Rehberg and Baucus did, Keena said, "is limited in scope now, but the dam is broken for Montana. When see that our quality matches our bragging, they'll want more."

…. For that reason, Baucus, among others, believes it's time to end the embargo.

More…
http://www.montanastandard.com/articles/2003/09/16/newsopinion_top/hjjgjaidjaicea.txt

[Judi Lynn]

4. This is a big step for Montana

and it seems unlikely they'd be taking it if they didn't feel completely sure they knew what they were doing.

They are joining 37 other states in conducting trade with Cuba.

Democratic Senator Max Baucus has been working on this for years. Sure glad he's got it in gear. His constituents are going to thank him.

[Osolomia]

2. Rays of reason in Cuba policy

Rays of reason in Cuba policy
Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
Posted on Tue, Sep. 16, 2003

(KRT) - The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Sunday, Sept. 14:

For decades, relations between Cuba and the United States have been as bitter and senseless as a family brawl. Dishes and frying pans keep flying back and forth across the Florida Straits with no other apparent strategic purpose than for Cubans in Havana and Miami to vent their loathing for one another.

Americans have a stake in this fight: We pay for the pans and broken china, even though the continuing melee does not advance U.S. political or economic purposes one inch.

Last week the House easily passed amendments, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., that would lift restrictions on Americans wanting to travel to the island and the cap on the amount of money Cuban exiles can send to their families back home. Similar amendments are expected in the Senate.

This is sound legislation that ought to be approved. It advances American interests on the island and those of Cubans in the island trying to survive under the ever-worsening conditions.

... Not surprisingly, the pots and pans started flying anew shortly after the amendments passed, mostly from Cuban-American representatives but also from GOP Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas.

The United States ought to back out of this family fight and adopt strategies that advance its interests rather than keep the feud going.

More…
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/6784211.htm

[Judi Lynn]

6. A great illustration of some of our problems with Miami/Cuba

Throwing pots and pans at each other, while we keep supplying new pots and pans. Actually it's a little more COMPLEX, isn't it, but it's good imagery, anyway.

A real grain of truth:

(snip)The United States shouldn't expect Cuba to open itself to the world while it seeks to corral it by all means possible.(snip)

Duh!

[Osolomia]

3. LETTERS FROM CUBA : Cuban economy a challenge, but people are easy to know

LETTERS FROM CUBA : Cuban economy a challenge, but people are easy to know
Will Jordan
Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Will Jordan, a 20-year-old University of Arkansas student and a Fayetteville native, is attending the University of Havana in Cuba this semester as part of a Sturgis Study Abroad Grant. He is the first UA student to study in Cuba through the grant program. During his time there, Jordan will write occasional diary entries for the benefit of Northwest Arkansas Times readers.

I’ve been here for only two weeks, yet it feels more like a month. The first week was somewhat of a daze as I was trying to adjust to my new surroundings and at the same time soak up all of the details. My early explorations have confirmed what I came expecting: the thick accent, the sociable people, the 1950 Chevys, the incredible architecture and the ever-present hint of music in the air, but they have also left me searching. It has been challenging trying to figure out the dual economy, the food, and especially the transportation.

Since arriving here Aug. 23, among other things, I’ve had the opportunity to cruise the Malecón, play a game of dominos by streetlight on the cobblestone streets of Trinidad, attempt to figure out the dual economy, and most interesting of all, use the Cuban bus system.

More…
http://www.nwanews.com/times/story_opinion.php?storyid=110215

[Judi Lynn]

7. Outstanding!

If _Bush gets his way, there will be ABSOLUTELY NOMORE STORIES LIKE THIS coming back to the States for those of us who are forbidden to see Cuba, as THIS AUTHOR will be locked out, too.

All this for a hard-right fragment of U.S. society which aspires to control absolutely every single American. Filthy politics, and loathesome power lust from the Republicans.

Interesting that this story reflects the same interested and surprisesd tone most visitors to Cuba convey to their readers about Cuba, if they are not being paid by right-wing interests.

[Osolomia]

5. So there's no excuse

for the ignorance of Cuba policy by Dem presidential candidates and their supporters in this internet day and bushwhacked age!

[otohara]

8. I'm Visiting Baghdad First

because our great Secretary of State says that Iraq will become the next vacation place.

This is good news for Cuba

[sandnsea]

9. Way to go Max!!!

He's still my #1 VP choice. And you should have heard him in the joint session on prescription drugs. Flat up told the Republican House that the Democratic members WILL NOT vote for anything that won't truly help senior citizens. He's tougher than people give him credit for.

[Osolomia]

10. Miami's lifeline to Fidel

Commentary > Opinion
from the September 17, 2003 edition
Christian Science Monitor
By Terry L. McCoy and Paolo Spadoni

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – A group of Cuban-American members of the Florida legislature recently issued an ultimatum to President Bush - either take a tougher line against Fidel Castro or Florida's Cuban-American community might well abandon the Republican party in 2004.
Given the importance of the Florida vote to Mr. Bush's reelection and the unwavering support Florida's Cuban-Americans traditionally give Republicans, the warning received serious attention from the White House as well as from Democratic contenders for the presidency, who are scrambling to curry the favor of disenchanted Cuban-Americans.

In their Aug. 11 letter to the president, the Cuban-Americans demanded measures be taken to ratchet up the pressure on Mr. Castro, but if they really want to turn up the heat on him, they should look closer to home. The Cuban-American community of South Florida has become the single most important source of external economic support for the Cuban government.

Why not take steps to cut off this aid?

Economic sanctions have been the centerpiece of US policy for more than 40 years. Most Americans can't travel to, trade with, or invest in Cuba. The rationale for the embargo is to deny hard currency resources to the government and create pressure for democratic reform and/or regime change on the island.

But the US embargo has holes - the biggest, by far, is the special exemptions granted Cuban-Americans. They can travel and send money to Cuba. Their dollars transferred through these family visits and remittances are now Castro's principal economic lifeline.

More...
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0917/p09s02-coop.html

[Osolomia]

11. Cuba presents U.N. resolution to condemn American trade sanctions

September 16. 2003 5:55PM

By ANITA SNOW
Associated Press Writer
HAVANA

Saying the U.S. trade embargo is harmful to both Cubans and Americans, the island nation's communist government Tuesday presented its proposal for an upcoming United Nations vote urging American leaders to end more than four decades of sanctions.

The tightening of sanctions in recent months "irrefutably demonstrate the refusal of the government of President George W. Bush to respect the will of the overwhelming majority of the international community," reads the text of the proposal scheduled for a Nov. 4 vote by the United Nations General Assembly.

It will be the 12th straight year that the General Assembly has considered such a proposal. In the previous 11 years the nonbinding resolution was adopted overwhelmingly.

Last year, the resolution was approved by a vote of 173-3 with four abstentions. Only the United States, Israel and the Marshall Islands voted for the sanctions.

"The government of Cuba does not blame the American people, who are also victims of this policy," Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said. "The blockade is not supported by most Americans."

More...
http://gainesvillesun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030916/APN/309160993&cachetime=5

[Judi Lynn]

12. Israel has been the only dependable vote for the US embargo on Cuba

Some years the only other vote at all.

Just found an article which indicates Cuban Jewish kids are have started visiting Israel, something I'd never heard before.

(snip) Youths come to 'build bridges' between Cuba, Israel
LOOLWA KHAZZOOM

Jewish Telegraphic Agency


TEL AVIV -- For many travelers, the threat of terrorism is a compelling reason to stay away from Israel.

For Maria Louisa Zayon, it was a compelling reason to visit.

"In Israel now it's a very hard time," said the 21-year-old journalism student from Havana, Cuba. "I think it's very important that people like us come to be together with Israel."

By "people like us," Zayon means the eight Cuban Jewish youths on the Birthright Israel program, the first organized group from Cuba to visit Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. (snip/...)

~~~~ link ~~~~

I've read that Israel also is a good customer of some Cuban product, don't know what it is, maybe grapefruits. Gonna check if I have time.

Funny to learn that Israel trades with Cuba, yet votes against Cuba with the US at the UN. Hmmmm.

[Osolomia]

13. Kick for context, lots of news and editorials on Cuba today

Rice's letter answers criticism from Cuban-American legislators

The Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. --
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has sent a letter to 13 Republican state lawmakers to reassure them that President Bush's administration is committed to bringing a transition to democracy in Cuba.

The letter, dated Sept. 3, comes about a month after the legislators warned President Bush that he could lose their support for the 2004 election if he fails to adopt a tougher Cuba policy.

In the letter, Rice points out some of the steps the White House has taken to encourage democracy on the island. Among those were shutting down Cuban spy rings in this country, opposing efforts to weaken sanctions and travel bans and sending assistance to families of political prisoners of Fidel Castro's government.

"The president remains committed to helping the Cuban people bring about a peaceful, rapid end to the Castro dictatorship," Rice wrote.

State Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, one of the lawmakers who signed the legislators' August letter outlining their concerns, said Rice's letter was a good start but does not go far enough.

"It demonstrates that President Bush has a strong record on Cuba policy that Cuban-Americans appreciate," Rivera told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "What's important now, however, particularly as we approach the (2004) election, is the need to distinguish President Bush's record from past and future Democratic nominees."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=118499