CNN. November 8, 2000.
HAVANA (AP) -- Michigan farmers were touring a Cuban agricultural
cooperative Wednesday on the first full day of their fact-finding trip to the
communist island in hopes to make contacts necessary to sell dry beans to the
country in the future.
Michigan Farm Bureau President Jack Laurie and Michigan Bean Commission
Executive Director Bob Green were heading the delegation of dry bean growers,
which arrived in Havana late Tuesday afternoon.
The Cuban government has said it will not buy one cent of American food in
the wake of a new law that allows Fidel Castro's government to buy U.S.
foodstuffs for the first time in about 40 years, but places tough restrictions
on financing of such sales.
Nevertheless, the Michigan group hopes the trip will be the first step in
providing a new market for the state's annual production of dry beans, estimated
at 5 million hundredweight. Cuba buys 4 million hundredweight of dry beans
annually, according to the Michigan Farm Bureau.
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.
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