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Remarks From the National Summit on
Cuba
National Summit on Cuba,
Friday October 8, 2004.
TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Remarks
from the National Summit on Cuba in Tampa,
Florida:
"Any candidate who wants to win a
statewide election in Florida should be
for lifting the embargo on Cuba. The new
voter registration trends in the Hispanic
community demonstrate that," said Alfredo
Duran, Esq., former chair of the Florida
Democratic Party.
"Decision-makers should exercise caution
in taking advice from any exile community.
Distorted advice contributed to intelligence
failures in Iraq," said Retired General
John Sheehan, former Supreme Allied Commander
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) who was in charge of Guantanamo Bay
during the last refugee crisis.
"The U.S. government is denying Americans
access to life-saving drugs from Cuba,"
said Peter Bourne, M.D., chairman, Medical
Education Cooperation with Cuba (MEDICC).
"Three thousand lives could have been
saved over the last 10 years if the U.S.
approved a meningitis B vaccine from Cuba.
Through use of the Cuban vaccine, the disease
has been wiped out in Cuba and Europe for
years."
"It's time for a different course,"
said Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ). "We
should allow Americans the freedom to travel.
We can take away Castro's microphone. I
see travel as a punishment to Castro. Sanctions
have not done much to stop Castro from jailing
people."
"We will pass a measure lifting the
travel ban on Cuba in 2005 and it will be
put on the president's desk," said
Senator Larry Craig (R-ID)
"Our mission is to bring to the American
public a better understanding of our policy
towards Cuba," said former Congressman
Sam Gibbons (D-Tampa). "We haven't
had a really good policy on Cuba and for
the Cuban people for all of my life. Engagement
is a better policy in dealing with people
than hostility. It's that simple. It's much
better to sit down and talk with each other
and listen to each other. If there is any
policy that needs that attention it's the
American policy towards Cuba."
"What we have done for the last forty
years has not accomplished anything,"
said Wayne Smith, Ph.D., Center for International
Policy and former Chief of the U.S. Interests
Section in Havana during the Carter and
Regan administrations. "Even the leading
dissidents in Cuba are opposed to our policy.
Every major religious group in Cuba condemns
our policy."
"When one steps back and looks at
American foreign policy we open ourselves
to hypocrisy," said William Delahunt
(D-MA). "Restricting Cuban- Americans
from travel and visiting their families
is only about politics. The only ones being
hurt are families in Florida and Cuba."
The National Summit on Cuba is cosponsored
by the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy
Foundation, Americans for Humanitarian Trade
with Cuba, the Florida-Cuba Business Council
and the World Policy Institute at New School
University. Additional cosponsors included
Tampa-based A.R. Savage & Company and
the Port of Corpus Christi. Approximately
240 attendees from across the nation representing
the private sector, and local, state, and
federal governments attended the summit.
For the full summit agenda, please visit
http://www.nationalsummitoncuba.org.
Contact:
Dan Krassner
Cell: (727) 798-6222
Source: National Summit
on Cuba
U.S.-Cuba Trade Could Generate $50 Billion,
900,000 Jobs; Florida Economist Gives Forecast
at National Summit on Cuba in Tampa
National Summit on Cuba,
Friday October 8, 2004.
TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Free
trade with Cuba could generate $50 billion
and 900,000 jobs for the United States over
a twenty year period, according to a forecast
presented at the National Summit on Cuba
on Friday by Dr. Tim Lynch, director of
the Center for Economic Forecasting and
Analysis at Florida State University.
"It's in everyone's best interest
to see free trade between the U.S. and Cuba,"
said Lynch. This is good for America and
good for Cuba."
Lynch determined that Florida would stand
to benefit more than any state for three
reasons -- a historic linkage to Cuba, Florida's
proximity to Cuba and large and growing
Hispanic population.
"Florida could see as many as 112,000
new jobs over a 20 year period that would
not otherwise exist in a variety of industry
sectors," said Lynch. "Where is
a hungry nation like Cuba going to turn?
It's cheaper to ship from Florida to Cuba,
especially from Tampa and Miami, than anywhere
else."
According to Lynch, Florida's benefit from
trade with Cuba over a period of 20 years
would generate $3.8 billion in output in
the following sectors:
* 77,700 jobs and $1.4 billion in services
and tourism
* 17,100 jobs and $328 million in agriculture
* 10,000 jobs and $458 million in waterborne
transport
* 6,000 jobs and $600 million in information
technology and
telecommunications
* 1,400 jobs and $92 million in railroads
* 500 jobs and $23 million in manufacturing
According to Kirby Jones, president of
Alamar Associates, U.S. agricultural sales
to Cuba from 2001 through August 2004 exceeded
$850 million. Jones said that U.S. agricultural
sales to Cuba were $4.4 million in 2001,
$177 million in 2002, $343.9 million in
2003 and $328 million through the end of
August 2004. Jones also reported $70 million
in freight and services paid to the U.S.,
primarily through Florida ports, from sales
to Cuba from 2001 to 2004.
"Tremendous opportunities exist for
Florida and Gulf Coast businesses interested
in trade with Cuba," said Antonio Zamora,
director of the Florida-Cuba Business Council,
one of the summit sponsors. "The Summit
provided an opportunity for these businesses
to learn about current trade opportunities,
to analyze the effectiveness of trade and
to seek ways to improve trade policy in
the coming years."
More than 30 speakers presented including:
U.S. Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho); U.S.
Representatives William Delahunt (D-MA),
Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Butch Otter (R-ID);
(Ret) General John Sheehan, former Supreme
Allied Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) in charge of Guantanamo
Bay during the last refugee crisis; Ambassador
Pete Peterson, the first U.S. Ambassador
to Vietnam and a former Florida Congressman;
FC Stone, Crowley Liner Services, diplomats,
chambers of commerce, and port authority
representatives among other distinguished
speakers. FOX National News Anchor Rita
Cosby moderated the day's program.
The National Summit on Cuba is cosponsored
by the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy
Foundation, Americans for Humanitarian Trade
with Cuba, the Florida-Cuba Business Council
and the World Policy Institute at New School
University. Approximately 200 attendees
from across the nation representing the
private sector, and local, state, and federal
governments attended the summit.
For a full summit agenda, please visit
http://www.nationalsummitoncuba.org.
Contact: Dan Krassner
Cell: (727) 798-6222
Source: National Summit
on Cuba
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