U.S. Companies Flock To Cuba

(CBS)  Life for most Cubans is a bare bones existence. The average wage is about $13 a month. But health care and education are free, and no one goes hungry because every Cuban receives a food ration.

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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[fidelcastr0]

I can't believe how many American's are simple minded. You fight against my country and call me a dictator, but your nation has normal diplomatic repressive dictators like Saudi Arabia (Monarchy = Dictatorship), Lybia (Have you forgotten PanAm 103), Pakistan is a dictatorship - President Pervez Musharraf took over in a military coup and installed himself as President AND THE US PROVIDED HIM WITH NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY.

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.

[olh1110]

What are you guys kidding me. I get sick just reading your emails. Did you all forget that Castro wanted to blow away the US with the Support of the Soviet Union? He doesn't have the financial backing that he had but if he did he'll try it again. I think that's what he's doing with CHavez and Iran. Planning to create another crisis.

[saprumillie]

The ironie of all this is that according to the Bush administration the Cuban goverment violates Human Rights and kill the cuban pepole. But the money is no tinted the big busines can make money.The cuban pepole deserves this the goverment takes care of them no like our goverment that lie's to us they have free education free health care and no cuban go to bed hungrey what an ironie a Third Worls Country that take care of his pepole than us a rich nation and violation of human rights please we don have any Rights Millie

[noejamao]

This kind of NEWS is a great service for the war on poverty and freedom. Thanks to people like the author of this piece it has been possible to achive the great successes of the last few years in Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Simbabwe, etc... Keep up the good work, maybe someday we in the USA will get there and there will equality and justice for all. VIVA PINOCHET.

[njfhar]

(correction) What we in capitalist countries - where the major electoral parties are owned by the ruling class - what we don't know is that there is extensive democracy in Cuba. People are constantly working toward educating themselves about how to build just systems so as gradually, with these systems - to supply themselves all, with what they need and like - food, education, piano- and ball-playing, et.al. - the state can wither away and provision of material satisfaction will continue. That's what democracy is for; not for continuous propping up of the ruling class, as is done in the U.S., Britain, France, et.al.
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.

[njfhar]

What we in capitalist countries - where the major electoral parties are owned by the ruling class - is that there is extensive democracy in Cuba. People are constantly working toward educating themselves about how to build just systems so as gradually, with these systems - to supply themselves all, with what they need and like - food, education, piano- and ball-playing, et.al. - the state can wither away and provision of material satisfaction will continue. That's what democracy is for; not for continuous propping up of the ruling class, as is done in the U.S., Britain, France, et.al.

[hamiltongrad]

Thank you for a eye opening report, CBS. This is why I check the web site and watch the news every day.
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 !