November 07, 2005
What embargo?
United States now Cuba's biggest food supplier
By Marc Frank
HAVANA, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The United States will be Communist-run Cuba's biggest food supplier this year, despite trade restrictions and onerous regulations, the head of the state's food importing monopoly said on Friday.
Alimport Chairman Pedro Alvarez said in an interview that about $500 million of his $1.5 billion budget this year went to buy U.S. cereals, grains, poultry and other products. That compares with second place Vietnam at more than $150 million, in large part due to its sale of 600,000 tonnes of rice to the Caribbean island.
China, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and some European countries were important suppliers as well, Alvarez said, with many at around $100 million.
Food sales to Cuba on a cash basis only were approved by Congress in 2000 as an exception to the U.S. trade embargo enforced against President Fidel Castro's leftist government since 1962.
In five years, Cuba has become the 26th largest market for American agricultural exports, up from 225th, purchasing more than 6 million tonnes of products valued at more than $1 billion, Alvarez said.
That's some 'blockade' you got there, Uncle Sam. The rest of the story is here.
Posted by Mora at November 7, 2005 06:07 AM
Comments
And the difficulties that Cuba complains about? Obviously it's not the 'blockade', it's the fact that Uncle Sam is making them pay for the goods.
Posted by: Kathleen at November 7, 2005 08:18 AM
This is news only to the deft and the blind, anyway your report left out the sale of medicine and medical equipment, and farming equipment...Yea Bush has really strengthened the embargo, we know it's true because he said so.
Posted by: madtom at November 7, 2005 11:43 AM
This may be in the news now, but the US has been the leading exporter of food and agricultural products to Cuba since at least 2003 according to agricultural economists from the University of Florida that have studied the relationship closely over several years. I attended a lecture by one of them and posted the startling facts at http://www.trenblindado.com/embargo.html
Posted by: conductor at November 7, 2005 12:27 PM