By Vanessa Bauzá. Havana Bureau.
The Sun-Sentinel. Posted June 5 2001.
HAVANA · A group of Cuban-Americans in favor of dropping the embargo
against their homeland said Monday they hoped their visit sets an example for
other Cuban-Americans interested in becoming involved in developing Cuba's
economy.
"It's a very ironic situation for you to be told by a foreign
government that you can't participate in the economic life of the country where
you were born," said Elena Freyre, executive director of the nonprofit
Cuban American Defense League and one of 14 Miami-Dade County residents visiting
the island. "Our No.1 purpose is to get Cuban-Americans involved in
normalizing relations. Our plan is to continue to do this and maybe make it a
yearly event."
Last Wednesday, a delegation of 14 Cuban academics and business officials
traveled to Miami for panel discussions on the Cuban economy and the legal
rights of investors.
Freyre said the Cuban delegates toured Miami Beach and Calle Ocho, the
traditional hub of the Cuban-American community.
The visit was reciprocated by the Cuban-Americans interested in investment
opportunities, who arrived in Cuba on Saturday and toured several businesses in
and outside Havana, including a medical supplies factory, a bank, the former
Hershey sugar mill and a gas plant.
"The most important thing, from my point of view, is to lift the
embargo and level the playing field," said Jose Fernandez, an investor who
was born in Cuba and lives in Miami Beach. "After the embargo the work
begins. But without lifting it our hands are tied."
Later this week in an unrelated event, about 50 American business executives
will gather in Havana for the fifth annual U.S. Cuba Business Summit to discuss
post-embargo investment opportunities on the communist island. The executives
will meet with Cuban officials and policy-makers, as well as several
international executives already doing business in Cuba.
Vanessa Bauzá can be reached at vmbauza1@yahoo.com.
Copyright © 2001, South Florida Sun-Sentinel | 