Peddling influence for a communist state

Cubanet - Miami Herald ^ | Tue, Oct. 05, 2004 | Editorial Miami Herald

[LibFreeUSA]

Those who lobby for Cuba's tyrant are foreign agents

Editorial, posted on Tue, Oct. 05, 2004 in The Miami Herald.

People who make deals with the devil shouldn't be surprised when the bill comes due. U.S. businesses that signed ''advocacy agreements'' with Cuba have no cause to complain about the regime pressuring them to lobby for lifting U.S. trade and travel sanctions on Cuba.

That's exactly what the agreements ask them to do, even if it is legally nonbinding. The U.S. signers, in turn, get to sell agricultural goods and services to the regime. This is a quid pro quo. U.S. firms may have thought they were engaging in a business deal but, for the regime, it's political influence peddling.

To woo anti-embargo support, Cuba deliberately spread its spending among congressional districts in dozens of U.S. states. Most recently, it sent the message by cutting purchases from U.S. companies with suspect ''commitment'' to Cuba's political agenda and funneling buys to firms that support it. This from a totalitarian regime that has bankrupted its economy, stiffed its creditors and now desperately wants the United States to bail it out. No, the U.S. government shouldn't remove sanctions on trade with Cuba.

Recently one firm figured out that such a political agreement isn't good for business. Sysco Corp., the largest U.S. food-service provider, canceled its deal to sell canned tomatoes and other foods, though it had already reaped $500,000. The company's headquarters didn't like the contract's political language. Likewise, Manatee County's port authority on Florida's west coast rejected the political clause and rescinded a similar agreement signed by the port last year.

Others haven't seen the light. At least four Congress members have signed similar agreements. Why would any Congress member agree to lobby on behalf of a communist dictatorship that is on the U.S. list of terrorist-supporting nations? U.S. Rep. Loretta Sánchez, D-Calif., told The Herald that part of her job is to help farmers in her district.

She and others -- including Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and groups such as the Indiana Farm Bureau -- who have signed such deals should be required to register as agents of a foreign government. And Congress should keep the trade embargo in place until Cuba is free of tyranny.