By Jim Burns. CNS Senior Staff Writer. 14 July, 2000. CNS News.
(CNSNews.com) - Three US Senators are heading to Cuba this weekend for "economic and security" discussions with Cuban officials, including President Fidel Castro.
Senator Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, is leading the delegation, which includes two Democrats - Sens. Max Baucus of Montana and Daniel Akaka of Hawaii.
"While I continue to have concerns about past actions of the Cuban government, we need to explore the process for bringing Cuba back to the world trade table," said Roberts. "American farmers and businesses have been locked out of the Cuban market for far too long."
Many of Roberts' constituents are farmers, eager to export their crops to Cuba.
Roberts and Baucus are sponsoring legislation that would normalize trade relations with Cuba - the target of an American economic embargo since 1960.
Roberts noted that last year, the United States exported only $4,000 worth of agricultural products to Cuba, while France, Canada and Argentina got the lion's share of the Cuban market, which totals some $700 million.
Roberts' arguments go beyond financial considerations.
"There is a growing sentiment that sanctions accomplish little, while hurting the US economy. As a result, we are beginning to remove sanctions on nations like Libya, Iran and North Korea. It makes little sense to keep sanctions on Cuba while easing them on these other countries," he
said.
But some Republicans disagree. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-NC) said in a recent New York Times opinion piece there is no evidence that investment would democratize Cuba.
"It is illegal in Cuba for anyone except the regime to employ workers. That means that foreign investors cannot hire or pay workers directly. They must go to the Cuban government employment agency, which picks the workers. The investors then pay Castro in hard currency for the workers, and
Castro pays the workers in worthless pesos," Helms said.
He also questioned Castro's motives in wooing American investment in the Communist country.
"Castro wants the American embargo lifted because he is desperate for hard currency," Helms wrote. "After the Soviet Union collapsed and Moscow's subsidies ended, Castro turned to European and Canadian investors to keep his Communist system afloat. Now he wants American investors
to do the same. We must not allow that to happen."
In its Thursday night broadcast, Radio Havana reported the US "economic blockade" has cost the Castro government $67 billion.
Radio Havana also accused the Bacardi rum of "funding right-wing attempts" against the Cuban government, ever since Bacardi fled the island during the revolution that brought Castro to power.
Bacardi has been based in the United States since Castro took over Cuba in 1959. |