Don't Subsidize a Tyrant --Miami Herald--(Excerpt) -- While the embargo restricts most U.S.-Cuba trade, it does not impose a humanitarian burden. Cuba frequently has bought wheat from Canada, rice from Vietnam, and medicine from Europe, Asia and Latin America. Donations of food and clothing and the licensed sale of U.S. medical products are permitted. The real cause of Cuba's hardship is not the embargo but the state's Soviet-style economy. Traditional exports such as sugar cost the regime more to produce than they sell for on the global market. Tourism brings in hard currency but not nearly enough to provide for Cuba's needs. Debt payments are so uncertain that major trade partners often must extend new loans.--(End Excerpt)
Ex-ambassadors debate Cuba policy, agree to disagree--[End Excerpt} Sally Grooms Cowal, president of the anti-embargo Cuba Policy Foundation and a former ambassador to Trinidad, said the United States has not succeeded in 40 years in bringing democratic reform to Cuba through the embargo.
``That hasn't happened,'' she said. ``Is there a corporation in the United States that would not change its practices if they had been a 40-year failure?''
``America cannot afford to continue a policy that's based on 40 years of failure,'' she said.
Cowal described her organization as ``centrist'' and said she has no illusions about the true nature of Cuba.
``I am not a naive Cuba apologist,'' she said. [End Excerpt]
Friends of Fidel--Washington Times--[Excerpt] Louisiana rice and Illinois wheat producers should not assume that selling to Havana is synonymous with getting paid. U.S taxpayers should be wary. Mr. Castro desperately needs credits and subsidies, and Washington is being pressured to provide them.
If the United States begins to subsidize trade with Cuba estimated at $100 million a year five years from now, U.S. taxpayers could be holding, or paying off, a $500 million tab. That´s real money.
Before extending Mr. Castro credit, grain growers should visit any street corner in Manhattan and observe a game played there. Called three-card monte, it consists of convincing the player that he knows exactly where the card carrying his money is. Until it disappears. In this game, the gambler takes his own chances. Where trade with Mr. Castro is concerned, the U.S. taxpayer will be left holding the losing card. --[End Excerpt]