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CUBA
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U.S. Food Producers to Work With Cuba
By ANITA SNOW, Associated
Press writer
HAVANA, 15 - American food producers pushed
ahead on new trade with communist Cuba on
Monday, signing the first contracts in three
days of negotiations expected to result
in as much as $130 million in new sales.
Scores of farmers, port operators and supermarket
representatives from around the United States
watched Monday morning as Pedro Alvarez,
head of the Cuban import company, Alimport,
signed contracts to buy $4.7 million in
rice from Riceland Foods Inc. of Stuttgart,
Ark.
Later, Alvarez signed contracts for Cuba
to buy $700,000 in peas and lentils from
PS International Ltd., of Chapel Hill, N.C.,
and $600,000 in chicken leg quarters from
Gold Kist of Atlanta.
"How times have changed!" Alvarez
said, noting that just two years ago there
was no trade at all between the two countries,
which have been without diplomatic ties
for more than four decades.
Since Cuba took advantage of an exception
to the U.S. trade embargo allowing the direct,
commercial sales of American farm products
to the island it has contracted to buy more
than $500 million in goods, according to
Alvarez.
Many more contracts were expected through
the end of Wednesday as representatives
of 147 firms from 29 states, Washington
and Puerto Rico mark the second anniversary
of the first U.S. commercial food shipments
to post-revolutionary Cuba.
Among the companies participating were
Cargill Inc., of Minnetonka, Minn.; Archer
Daniels Midland of Decatur, Ill.; FC Stone
of Des Moines, Iowa; Kaehler's Homedale
Farms in St. Charles, Minn. Also on hand
were representatives of Carolina Turkey,
of Mount Olive, North Carolina, and Crowley
Liner Services of Jacksonville, Fla., which
has transported about 70 percent of the
American food sold to Cuba over two years.
Many deals evidently were worked out ahead
of time.
FC Stone, which represents 750 grain cooperatives
throughout the United States, last week
received an advance order for nearly $7
million worth of corn. Company representative
Chris Aberle, who was traveling to Havana
later Monday, said in a weekend telephone
interview from the United States the contract
was expected to be signed later in the week.
Interest by American food companies in
doing business with Cuba has grown despite
a tightening of restrictions on the island
by the U.S. government, including stepped-up
enforcement of rules on American travel.
Many of the farm representatives at this
week's gathering favor an end to U.S. restrictions
on trade with and American travel to the
island.
"The answer to our differences is
communication, not isolation," Iowa
Agriculture Secretary Patty Judge told the
gathering. "We should be tearing barriers
down, not building barriers."
Judge also called for two-way trade between
the two nations. "Cuban products must
be allowed into my country," she said.
Cuba first used the law in late 2001 to
replenish its food reserves after Hurricane
Michelle caused wide damage across the country.
It previously had balked at using the law,
protesting its restrictions on American
financing for the sales.
The first shipment, $300,000 worth of chicken
parts, sailed into Havana Bay from Gulfport,
Miss., on Dec. 16, 2001.
Because the law prohibits U.S. financing
for the transactions, the Cuban funds generally
are shipped through European banks.
Cuban officials have said those roundabout
funding transactions have cost the island
at least $10 million because of bank fees
and fluctuating foreign exchange rates.
Hearings Begin in Cuba Travel Ban Case
By JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated
Press Writer
WASHINGTON, 15 - Vacationing in Mexico
in 1999, Frederick Burks could not resist
hopping a cheap flight to Cuba for a spur-of-the-moment
visit, an excursion that led to accusations
by U.S. authorities that he had illegally
traveled to the country.
Now, after years of waiting, Burks faces
a judicial hearing, though he doesn't know
exactly when.
"I'm getting tired of all this stuff,"
said Burks, 45, of Berkeley, Calif., who
contends his trip to Cuba was an honest
mistake. "I broke some regulation I
didn't know was there."
Eleven years after Congress authorized
civil hearings for anyone alleged to have
violated the Cuba travel ban, the Treasury
Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control
has installed three administrative law judges
to hear the cases. Budget problems and the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks have been cited
by officials for the delay in starting the
hearings.
Burks said he requested a hearing in 2001,
the same year he was notified by the government
that he was facing a proposed penalty of
$7,590 for alleged violations of the Cuba
embargo. "I thought, 'Oh, boy. This
is getting serious,'" he said.
Burks, who works as an interpreter, still
does not have a hearing date.
The Treasury office has begun action for
90 people who had requested hearings, Treasury
spokesman Tara Bradshaw said.
Of those cases, 37 people have settled
with the government, 27 cases have been
referred to administrative law judges and
the remaining 26 are in various stages of
the process, Bradshaw said.
President Bush has ordered that the travel
ban be enforced more vigorously.
Both the Republican-led House and Senate
voted to end it, but congressional negotiators
stripped that provision out of a compromise
measure to finance the Transportation and
Treasury departments for the federal budget
year that began Oct. 1. The White House
had threatened to veto legislation that
would have weakened the travel ban.
Under current rules, most travel to Cuba
is forbidden. There are exceptions that
cover working journalists, relatives of
Cuban citizens, providers of humanitarian
aid and others.
Americans accused of traveling illegally
to Cuba have several options: pay a fine
assessed by the government, which typically
ranges from $3,000 to $7,500; negotiate
a lower payment; or request a civil hearing.
Nancy Chang, a lawyer for the New York-based
Center for Constitutional Rights, which
has advocated an end to the travel restrictions,
said she has clients who have been accused
of illegal travel and have been waiting
for hearings since 1998.
"The delay harms people's ability
to present a case. Documents may be destroyed.
Memories may fade," Chang said.
President Kennedy imposed the penalties
against Cuba in 1963 during the Cold War.
The basic goal is to isolate the Cuban government
economically and deprive it of U.S. dollars,
the government says.
On the Net:
Office of Foreign Assets Control: http://www.treas.gov/offices/eotffc/ofac/
Canada loses to Cuba in opening game
of women's volleyball qualifier
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, 15 (CP)
- World powerhouse Cuba defeated the Canadian
women's volleyball team in the opening match
of the 2003 NORCECA Zone Olympic qualifying
tournament Monday.
Cuba, ranked No. 6 in the world, defeated
the 20th-ranked Canadians 3-1, in scores
of 25-18, 25-14, 24-26 and 25-19. Barb Bellini
of White Rock, B.C., led the young Canadian
side with 17 points while Sarah Pavan of
Kitchener, Ont., added 10 points.
"Considering we only had five players
that have ever played against Cuba before,
this was a good start for us," said
Canadian head coach Lorne Sawula. "We
proved to ourselves that we can play well
with the most powerful team here, and we
still have a lot more in us."
Canada will play No. 14-ranked Dominican
Republic, the 2003 Pan Am Games champion,
on Tuesday.
The NORCECA tournament is the Canadian
women's only chance to qualify for the 2004
Athens Olympics, and only the winning team
earns a berth.
Canada is also up against No. 17-ranked
Puerto Rico and Mexico, ranked 35th.
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