Subject: [big campaign] McCLATCHY - Commentary: Lifting ban would make Cuba freer, open
From: Aniello Alioto <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 12:35:41 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

Simply awesome - This perfectly counters the argument projected by the
ridiculously reluctant Cold Warriors & those who have right-wing special
interest contributions in their campaign coffers. It would be great to see
this story pushed far & wide - and, of course, replicated repeatedly.

Please contact me off-list if you are able to project this story and/or
would like to help place the next one.

Best,
Aniello
202.234.5807 office
502.664.2420 cell

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/68808.html
Commentary: Lifting ban would make Cuba freer, open By Bob Stallman

WASHINGTON — It amazes me that it is 2009 and Americans are still unable to
visit or do business with Cuba. It is the only country in the world where
our government bans Americans from traveling. Unfortunately, a lot of
opportunities are being missed for both business and tourism because of
these costly restrictions.

I was lucky enough to visit Cuba in 2002. I say lucky because both the
country and its people are beautiful. It also helped me see firsthand the
disarray left on Cuba's agriculture industry when the Russian troops left in
the early 1990s and how Cubans are dealing with the aftermath.

My trip to Cuba shored up several things for me. First, Cuban citizens are
good people and second, they need affordable food.

During my visit, it was striking to see tourists there from everywhere in
the world except the United States. To remedy this, there is legislation on
Capitol Hill that would open Cuba to travel for U.S. citizens. Further,
President Obama recently relaxed rules to allow Cuban-Americans to visit
their family, while easing financial and gift restrictions.

These actions bring us one step closer to increasing food and agricultural
sales to Cuba, an important priority for the American Farm Bureau
Federation. U.S. agricultural sales to Cuba have been on average $400
million annually since 2000. With the embargo lifted, we expect that number
would rise to $1 billion annually.

While touring the Cuban countryside I realized the nation's ability to
produce bulk commodities had significantly diminished after the Russians'
departure. Other countries are taking advantage of the opportunity.

For example, I visited a joint venture project between an Israeli investor
and the Cuban government to grow oranges. This is just one agriculture
example and there are plenty more.

Being able to feed its citizens is a big priority for Cuba. It is a poor
country, but its people are by no means malnourished. Every Cuban is given
rations for basic foods, such as milk and rice. When I was there, a campaign
was in place encouraging average citizens in cities to plant plots of
vegetables in order to help produce food.

There are many practical reasons the United States and Cuba should be
trading. The Cuban government allocates a specific sum of money to buy food
and pay transportation costs for those imports. Transportation costs would
be minimal between the United States and Cuba compared to Europe or Asia,
which means more money could go toward feeding Cuba's citizens instead of
being burned up in shipping costs.

By removing U.S. restrictions on Cuba, we also weaken the totalitarian grip
on that nation's citizens. History has shown we can do more to spread
democracy by opening travel and trade to other countries. By working as
ambassadors of change in those countries we can have more positive impact on
the lives of the Cuban people than anything we have done under this embargo
over the last 47 years.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and
expecting different results. After nearly a half century, the time is now to
open Cuba's border to U.S. citizens, businesses and ideals.

*ABOUT THE WRITER*

Bob Stallman is president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Readers
may write him at 600 Maryland Avenue SW, Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20024.

This essay is available to McClatchy-Tribune News Service subscribers.
McClatchy-Tribune did not subsidize the writing of this column; the opinions
are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of
McClatchy-Tribune or its editors.
 © 2009, American Farm Bureau Federation

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