U.S. Companies Flock To Cuba
37 U.S. States Export Food To Cuba, More Than Any Other Country
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Play CBS Video Video Cuba's Grocer Despite a 47-year-old trade embargo, 30% of the food Cuba imports comes from American companies. Russ Mitchell has more details on this burgeoning relationship.
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Taxi passes a sign with Cuban President Fidel Castro that reads: "We are doing well", Havana, Cuba, Nov. 21, 2005. (AP)
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Interactive Fidel Castro And Cuba Find out more about the communist country and the fiery leader who led the Cuban Revolution.
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Fast Facts Cuba Learn about the people, economy and history.
There are open-air markets all over Cuba with mostly home grown products. But the truth is that Cuba doesn't come close to producing enough food for its people, reports CBS News correspondent Russ Mitchell. Up to thirty percent of the food Cuba imports comes from the United States — that's more than from any other country.
Despite the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo, today U.S. companies are flocking to Cuba — all because of a loophole Congress approved in 2000 that allows for the sale of American food to Cuba. What started as a trickle has turned into a half billion dollar flood of sales each year.
"I think it's substantial," said Kirby Jones of the U.S.-Cuba Trade Association, in response to a question about U.S. food sales to Cuba. "I think in the $100's of millions or billions of dollars."
Jones, a lobbyist and deal-maker, represents dozen's of U.S. companies in Cuba.
"The impression in the United States is that Cuba is stagnant — locked into some rigid communist ideology and structure," said Jones. "Cuba is totally different, hundreds of companies do business with Cuba."
Three years ago Cuba was purchasing about $1.7 million in poultry from the United States, according to Ron Sparks, Alabama's Commissioner of Agriculture. "Now they are purchasing about $57 million of poultry and 40 to 50 percent of that comes out of Alabama," says Sparks.
And it's not just Alabama. There are 37 U.S. states that export food to Cuba, according to Pedro Alvarez, who oversees the importing of food to Cuba. Alvarez thinks that U.S. food imports to Cuba would skyrocket if trade was normalized between the two countries.
"In the first five years, trade and services would be more than 20 billion dollars," Alvarez told Mitchell.
"The Cuban dictator has spent a considerable amount of money making agricultural purchases to try to influence the Congress to get what he really wants, which is mass U.S. tourism," said Florida Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
Diaz-Balart, like other critics of Castro, charges Cuba is hoping U.S. politicians, eager to boost their state's economies, will pressure Congress to lift the trade embargo.
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I can go on and on, but the lesson here is American's, you don't know your history and you don't know who your government makes friends with.
LEAVE CUBA ALONE.
In Cuba there is constantly voting, at the block level, the community level, the town or city level, state and country. We don't understand this. People gather, discuss, consense, or put forward their ideas including oppositions, and work stuff out, to provide themselves what they can, what they will.
Could you also look into the state of Cuba's prisons, civil rights for Blacks (is it true Black Cubans are not allowed to move to Havana ?), and freedom of the press. What happens to the prisoners, how are they treated vs. the Gitmo detainees down the road?
Will things get better when the current leadership fades away ? Is there young blood with modern ideas to help the Cuban people achieve social justice and freedom ? Thank again for opening up Cuba for us !