Seeking trade deals, N.C. farmers pitch their products in Havana
By Mark Johnson. Staff Writer. Posted at 12:00 p.m. EST
Monday, December 11, 2000 in The Charlotte
Observer.
HAVANA -- A delegation of 18 N.C. farm executives plans to sit down with
Cuban officials today to talk turkey, chickens, sweet potatoes, pork and a host
of other commodities the farmers would like to sell to the island nation.
The four-day trade mission, led by the state Department of Agriculture,
makes North Carolina one of only a handful of states that have pitched their
crops and flocks to the communist country. At first glance, it would seem the
timing for such ventures couldn't be better. Congress passed legislation in
October allowing for the sale of food to Cuba, a crack in the 38-year-old
embargo against Fidel Castro. In the business community, pressure is mounting to
further relax the sanctions.
Instead of contracts, though, recent delegations from Georgia and Michigan
mostly got complaints. The Cubans scoffed that the new U.S. legislation made
trade impractical. "They thought it was kind of a slap in the face,
especially because it only allowed one-way trade," said James Sumner,
president of the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council and a member of Georgia's
trade mission in October. "Some of their officials basically said, `Why in
the hell would we want to buy from the U.S. when they won't be able to buy our
product?'"
Dan Wyant, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture, said no one
in that state's November trade mission secured a deal in Cuba, largely because
of the new federal trade law.
That legislation allows the sale of food and medicine to Cuba, which sits
just 90 miles off the Florida coast, but continues the prohibition on importing
Cuban goods to the United States. It also blocks American banks from providing
financing, making it difficult to consummate any deals.
"Here was legislation that potentially had advantages to both
countries," Wyant said. "As it ended up, it became an insult in their
eyes. They communicated that to us in just about every meeting."
Caribbean thaw
A few years ago, dispatching a trade mission to Cuba was unthinkable,
particularly for the home state of Republican U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, who is at
least partly responsible for maintaining the embargo and opposes this
delegation's trip. Cuba has remained off limits to American tourists since the
early 1960's, after Castro took power in the 1959 revolution. Thousands of
Americans still visit each year, either in violation of U.S. restrictions or on
specifically authorized academic or cultural exchanges.
In recent months, however, business groups such as the American Farm Bureau
have accelerated their push to ease the restrictions on trade. In agriculture,
for example, North Carolina and other states could grab a share of Cuba's $700
million in imported food and other commodities. N.C. agriculture department
officials estimate the United States could sell $60 million to $70 million worth
of agricultural goods to Cuba in the first year of liberalized trade policies
and $420 million after five years.
Some conservatives also have begun speaking out.
"We have an incredibly outdated policy toward Cuba that is at odds with
our practice of engagement with virtually every other place in the globe,"
said U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C.
Dan Fisk, a former Helms aide, helped write the 1996 Helms-Burton Act that
tightened the embargo. Now a foreign policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation,
he was among a bipartisan Council on Foreign Relations group that two weeks ago
called for easing restrictions on trade with and travel to Cuba.
"What has changed here has been a general questioning of the use of
economic sanctions," Fisk said.
No such shift has occurred within the Cuban American lobby and its
supporters in Congress. They managed to overhaul the October legislation, which
was intended to provide limited trade and travel opportunities without lifting
the embargo. The final version instead codified the prohibition on travel into
law and, while allowing food sales, blocked U.S. bank involvement, the normal
source of funding.
Those who pushed for such constraints mostly adhere to the theory that
isolation will eventually undermine Castro's regime. So far, those embargo
faithful continue to win the battles in Congress. As long as Castro is in power,
the emotions over his record of human rights abuses continue to trump efforts to
strengthen relations with Cuba.
Conquer with capitalism
Gov. Jim Hunt is among those who argue the opposite - that the United States
could better open up Cuba by engaging it in economic relationships.
"It's a way to get rid of Castro," Hunt said. "Isolating him
hasn't worked for 30 years. The people (of Cuba) will find out what a lousy job
he's done, that there's something better, and overthrow him."
N.C. farmers eventually could gain a share of business such as the 10,000
metric tons of pork, 35,200 metric tons of poultry and 720,000 metric tons of
animal feed that Cuba currently imports from more distant lands such as Canada
and France.
Despite the rebuff that the Georgia and Michigan groups received, N.C.
officials suspect that the Cubans' ire has had time to cool. They believe the
Cubans also likely recognize the political and publicity value of using Helms'
home state to initiate new trade relationships.
"We are the group, because of the timing and who we are, who have the
best chance of getting the initial sales," said Charles Hall, international
trade specialist with the N.C. Agriculture Department.
Cuban officials likely recognize that any trade, however complicated the
deal, will help build public support in the United States for relaxing the
embargo. In other words, they can't afford to keep snubbing their suitors.
"The Cubans know if they don't buy anything," Hall said, "people
will stop coming."
Reach Mark Johnson at (704) 358-5941 or mjohnson@charlotteobserver.com. | 