Yahoo! News
November 23, 2001.
Cos. To sell Cuba grains, soybeans
Companies to Make First Grain, Soybean Sales to Cuba in 40 Years
By Herbert G. Mccann. AP Business Writer
CHICAGO, 21 (AP) -- In the first such deals in 40 years, several food
companies, including Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Cargill Inc., have agreed to
sell Cuba grains and soybeans. The move was prompted by the recent devastation
caused by Hurricane Michelle.
A joint venture of ADM and Kansas City, Mo.-based Farmland Industries Inc.
will sell hard, red winter wheat to Cuba, ADM vice president Larry Cunningham
said Wednesday.
Minneapolis-based Cargill will sell corn, wheat and soybean oil, while
Stuttgart, Ark.-based Riceland Foods Inc., which donated rice to Cuba last year,
will be selling rice to Cuba for the first time since an embargo was imposed.
The shipments are expected to begin arriving early next year.
Congress approved food exports to Cuba in 2000, easing a trade embargo
imposed in 1961 -- but watered down the measure by prohibiting U.S. financing of
such transactions. Cuban purchases of U.S. medical supplies have been legal
since 1992.
Enraged by the restrictions, Cuba said it would not buy any food until
sanctions were eased more. But Cuban President Fidel Castro softened that stance
after the hurricane struck on Nov. 4, destroying crops and thousands of homes,
and killing five people.
ADM on Tuesday reached an agreement to sell several thousand tons of corn to
Cuba and on Wednesday agreed to sell several thousand tons of soybean meal, rice
and raw soybeans, Cunningham said. Negotiations are continuing on the sale of
dry edible beans and cooking oil.
"Obviously, it's exciting news,'' Cunningham said. "It's been
roughly 40 years since an American food company has sold any product in Cuba.
We're hopeful that it will lead to further relationships.''
Many U.S. agricultural interests have pushed for opening trade with Cuba, a
large potential market. None of the companies would provide dollar amounts.
John S. Kavulich II, president of the New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and
Economic Council, Inc., said he learned of the deal from ADM representatives who
had participated in negotiations. He said ADM is a member of the council, which
follows economic relations between the United States and Cuba.
Kavulich also declined to reveal the agreed-upon prices for the goods.
"None of the companies signed for a price below market prices so they
are all making a profit,'' he said. "But they are not making a normal
profit due to the humanitarian nature of these transactions.
Kavulich called it an "important historical moment'' between the United
States and Cuba.
Officials at Alimport, the Cuban government agency that handles the island's
food imports, said Wednesday they had no official information about the
contracts.
The sale agreement is a symbolic step in building a Cuba-U.S. relationship
that many have been hoping for, according to Harold Kauffman, professor and
assistant dean of International Activities at the University of Illinois in
Champaign.
"It's more symbolic at this stage, unfortunately, because there are
still too many constrictions and difficulty in working through the limitations
that the embargo has in place,'' he said. "Hopefully, it's an indication
that relations are going to improve and that U.S. business can be involved.''
The U.S. State Department said it would support the sales because of their
humanitarian nature and would consult other agencies to expedite authorization.
World Events Cast Shadow Over Summit
By Craig Mauro, Associated Press Writer
LIMA, Peru 22 (AP) - The threat of financial meltdown in Argentina,
darkening economic prospects worldwide and a global campaign against terrorism
provided an ominous backdrop to the Ibero-American summit.
Leaders from Latin America and former colonial powers Spain and Portugal
were to gather Friday for two days to discuss international terrorism and the
world economy.
Peru's President Alejandro Toledo said the summit's main session will break
with the usual tradition of speeches and hobnobbing. Instead, leaders will focus
on hammering out joint statements on terrorism and the economy, he said.
"We're going to start something new,'' Toledo said this week. "The
heads of state are going to lock themselves up for four hours to converse,
without foreign ministers, without advisers and without the press.''
Nineteen heads of government - the most ever to meet here - will hunker down
in an exclusive Lima hotel amid unprecedented security measures, including more
than 8,000 police officers assigned to the summit venues.
King Juan Carlos of Spain will attend. The presidents of Uruguay and
Honduras will be represented by their vice presidents.
Cuba's Fidel Castro (news - web sites) disrupted last year's Ibero-American
meeting when he angrily refused to endorse a motion condemning terrorism in
general and, specifically, the ETA, a Basque separatist group in Spain. He
criticized the motion for its failure to address what he called four decades of
terrorism suffered by Cuba.
Peru's Foreign Minister Diego Garcia Sayan promised Wednesday that this
year's summit will issue "a very clear rejection and condemnation of
terrorism in all its forms wherever it comes from.''
He said a joint communique will also call for "cooperation on the
intelligence, police and judicial fronts'' in the fight against terrorism, while
urging that the U.N. Security Council guide "the judicial framework'' of
that fight.
In between brainstorming about terrorism, economic crises and special
treatment for poor countries in future world trade agreements, the leaders plan
to examine the track record of their previous meetings.
The 21 countries have convened every year since 1991 to strengthen economic
and cultural ties among Spain, Portugal and Latin America. However, the meetings
often end with lofty communiques that offer few concrete policies or agreements.
"Latin American countries have this tradition of coming together from
time to time. Unfortunately, on very few occasions you get collective action,''
said Julio Carrion, a scholar of Latin American politics at the University of
Delaware.
Also schedule to attend the summit are representatives from Argentina,
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador,
El Salvador (news - web sites), Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay
and Venezuela. | 
