Theo Francis. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. August 16, 2000
STUTTGART -- Riceland Foods Inc. has donated about 20 tons of rice to a drought-stricken region in Cuba, a move company officials call partly humanitarian and partly good business.
The shipment -- about 400,000 standard servings of long-grain rice -- was sent under a U.S. Department of Commerce license for humanitarian donations.
It will feed residents of Guantanamo, an eastern province suffering from severe drought, the company said.
But the gift makes good commercial sense, too. If the U.S. embargo against Cuba is lifted, Riceland hopes Cuba will think favorably of the company, said Dick Bell, Riceland's president and chief executive officer.
"We want them to know us," Bell said, "so that when they think of rice, they think of Arkansas and they think of us."
Riceland has plenty of company, said Alfred L. Padula, a retired University of Southern Maine historian who studies Cuba. "Everyone's trying to get their foot in the door."
The rice -- 13,000 three-pound bags -- was shipped via Mexico, because the American embargo forbids direct shipments and penalizes ships that dock at Cuban ports. After some delays at the Texas-Mexican border, the rice arrived in Havana late last month, Bell said.
U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Arkansas, called Riceland's move wise.
"Opening up trade with Cuba is on the top of my priority list," Lincoln said in a written statement. "This gesture by Riceland will certainly help relations should normal commercial trading opportunities present themselves in the future."
Congress is considering changes to the four-decade-old Cuban embargo that would allow American companies to sell food and medicine to the communist island. Senate and House versions of the change differ, however, and a conference committee later this year will try to resolve those
differences.
Bell said he's optimistic that Congress will at least allow food and medicine sales to Cuba.
So are other industries and companies, and many states have sent commercial and political representatives to Cuba to make connections should the embargo fall. Arkansas' entire congressional delegation favors lifting the sanctions, at least in part, and in May Lincoln and Democratic Rep.
Marion Berry accompanied the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation on a trip to Cuba to help smooth the way for Arkansas farm products.
But others aren't so supportive, Padula said. If Cuba was allowed to export to the United States, Florida and Louisiana could encounter unwanted competition for sugar.
Citrus- and vegetable-growing states also could lose market share to Cuban imports, as could tobacco growers, among others, Padula said. "While perhaps knocking down the embargo would be helpful for some states, there are other states that are very worried."
This article was published on Wednesday, August 16, 2000
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