Posted on Tue, Jun. 29, 2004
Jamaica encourages business ties with Cuba despite U.S. pressure
ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press
HAVANA - The Jamaican government said Tuesday it will continue to encourage business relations with Cuba, despite ongoing pressure by the United States to discourage investment by foreign companies in the communist nation.
Jamaica regards Cuba as a "close and valued neighbor" as well as a "member of the Caribbean family" and hopes to further strengthen the two countries' trade and economic links, Foreign Minister Keith Desmond Knight told reporters Tuesday during a two-day visit to Cuba.
The visit by Knight, who is also foreign trade minister, came two weeks after Jamaican hotel chain SuperClubs announced it pulled out of two Cuban resort properties after threats from the U.S. government that company executives would not be allowed into the United States.
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Despite the SuperClubs incident, a business representative of the Jamaican government also in Havana said he believed most private companies in Jamaica would resist any future U.S. pressure.
"One or two companies will feel intimidated, but the majority of businesses in Jamaica are disposed to doing business with Cuba," said Victor Salazar, the regional manager of Jamaica Promotions Corporation, a state agency.
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/9041763.htm