FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Friday, March 28, 2003
Contact: Brian Alexander; Tel: (202) 321-CUBA (2822); Email:
alexander@cubafoundation.org
EMBARGO UPDATE:
OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
[Note: CPF is preparing an analysis and “layman’s guide” to the new OFAC regulations, and will release this as soon as it is complete.]
While Americans’ attention has been focused on
Iraq, a number of key developments have occurred with respect to Cuba and
U.S.-Cuba relations. In response to
numerous inquiries received by the Cuba Policy Foundation, this edition of
“Embargo Update” summarizes six of the major developments. For further comment or analysis on any of
these or other matters, please contact the Cuba Policy Foundation.
- CUBAN-AMERICAN
ATTITUDES TOWARD U.S. POLICY SHIFTING
- CUBA
EMERGES AS TOP-FIFTY U.S. EXPORT MARKET FOR AG COMMODITIES IN 2002
- DIPLOMATIC
TENSIONS HEAT-UP BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND HAVANA: STAY TUNED
- DISSIDENT
CLAMP-DOWN IN CUBA SPARKS OUTCRY; CONGRESSMAN FLAKE INTRODUCES RESOLUTION
DENOUNCING ACTS
- WORKING
GROUP ON CUBA ANNOUNCED IN U.S. SENATE
- OFAC
PUBLISHES NEW REGULATIONS ON CUBA
CUBAN-AMERICAN
ATTITUDES TOWARD U.S. POLICY SHIFTING: South Florida’s
Cuban-American community is expressing unprecedented support for easing
elements of the United States’ embargo of Cuba. In a public opinion poll conducted for the Miami Herald in
February 2003, among Cuban-Americans living in South Florida, there is
significant support for ending the travel ban, lifting the cap on remittances,
and increasing outreach efforts towards those on the island. Here is a sample of some of the results:
The
Travel Ban: Among
Cuban-Americans living in South Florida, 47% responded that they support
lifting travel restrictions for all U.S. citizens who want to travel to
Cuba, as compared to 46% who oppose and 7% who said they don’t know.
The
Remittances Cap:
Among Cuban-Americans living in South Florida, 49% responded that they
support lifting restrictions on [the] amount of money that U.S. citizens
can send to their family in Cuba, as compared to 44% who oppose and 7% who said
they don’t know. (Currently, Americans
are permitted to send on $300 per quarter to friends and family in Cuba.)
“The
Embargo”: Among
Cuban-Americans living in South Florida,, to the question, “Generally speaking,
do you support or oppose the U.S. embargo of Cuba?” 60% responded “support,”
27% responded “oppose,” and 12% responded “Don’t know.”
Dialogue
with the Island:
Among Cuban-Americans living in South Florida, several questions asked
respondents about their views on existing initiatives to enter dialogue with
those living in Cuba, to which over 50% responded “support,” while under 40%
responded “oppose.”
For more information and analysis of the polling
results, please visit the following link at the Miami Herald: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/5168727.htm.
CUBA EMRGES AS TOP-FIFTY
U.S. EXPORT MARKET FOR AG COMMODITIES IN 2002
In 2002,
Cuba bought over $138 million in U.S. agricultural products in 2002, making the
island a top-fifty U.S. agricultural export market for American farm
goods, according to recent data from the U.S. Census Agency. 2002 was the first
full year of such sales to Cuba, under a U.S. law passed in 2000, in which
Americans are permitted to sell agricultural products to Cuba on a cash-only basis. The top-ten state exporters to Cuba in 2002:
Illinois ($68.6 mil.); Florida ($28.9 mil.); Georgia ($9.9 mil.); Ohio ($9.7
mil.); Arkansas ($7.3 mil.); Connecticut ($6.7 mil.); Minnesota ($2.7 mil.);
New Jersey ($1.9 mil.); Indiana ($1.7 mil.); California ($1.6 mil.). [Note that sales figures indicate from where
a product was sold and not necessarily where it was produced (e.g. Kansas wheat
sold through an Illinois-based company).]
Notably,
Florida was as a top benefactor of U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba. The state emerged as the United States’
second leading exporter to Cuba in 2002, with exports topping $29 million in
mainly agricultural commodities. In
addition, Florida ports such as Pensacola, Jacksonville, and Tampa were active
in the shipping of U.S. exports to Cuba.
An October
2001 study produced by Texas A&M University for the Cuba Policy Foundation
shows that Cuba is a potential annual U.S. agricultural export market of over
$1.2 billion. For more information on
this study, including state-by-state export potential and
commodity-by-commodity breakdowns, please contact the Cuba Policy Foundation.
DIPLOMATIC TENSIONS HEAT-UP
BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND HAVANA: STAY TUNED
In early March, the Cuban government announced
that American diplomats stationed at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana
cannot travel beyond Havana province without prior approval by the government
of Cuba. The American government
reciprocated by requiring approval for Cuban diplomats stationed at the Cuban
Interests Section in Washington, DC, to travel beyond the DC metropolitan
area. Previous to the new rule,
diplomats only had to give notice to the host government of travel plans.
Cuba’s actions against American diplomats were purported to be in response to
meetings with Cuban dissidents and independent journalists by James Cason,
Chief of the U.S. Interests Section, Havana.
In addition to signaling rising political
tensions between the two countries, the limits on movement will have immediate
impact on diplomats’ in each country.
Mr. Cason has logged over 6,000 miles of travel in Cuba since his
arrival at his post last summer.
Meanwhile, diplomats at the Cuban Interests Section, have traveled
extensively around the United States to meet with business people, journalists,
citizen groups, and others. Whether
these tensions will increase or will relax remains to be seen.
For additional details, see the March 14, 2003,
report, “Cuba limits travel of U.S. diplomats; U.S. reciprocates, officials say,”
by George Gedda for the Associated Press, available at: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030315/ap_wo_en_ge/na_gen_us_cuba_1.
Meanwhile, a Cuban passenger airliner was high
jacked to Florida during a trip between destinations on the island. Thirty-seven persons, including six high
jackers, arrived in the aircraft at Key West International airport on March
19. The six high jackers will be
prosecuted in the United States. Many
passengers on the plane have returned to Cuba, but some have opted to apply for
asylum in the United States. The
aircraft will be auctioned in the United States, and the proceeds will benefit
a Cuban-American woman who won a judgment against the Cuban government in
relation to a 1995 spy case.
The Cuban government has said the U.S. decision
to prosecute the high jackers is “a modest step forward,” but has decried the
decision to not return the aircraft and continues to denounce the U.S. policy
that allows Cubans who reach American soil to apply for asylum in the United
States.
DISSIDENT CLAMP-DOWN IN
CUBA SPARKS OUTCRY; CONGRESSMAN FLAKE INTRODUCES RESOLUTION DENOUNCING ACTS
Over the past week and a half, the Government of Cuba has detained
over 70 human rights activists and independent journalists, in the most
sweeping clampdown on the island’s dissident community in since
the mid-1990s.
U.S Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ),
a leading actor in the House Cuba Working Group, a bipartisan fifty-member
coalition that supports easing U.S. sanctions against Cuba, introduced a
resolution before the Congress on March 26, 2003, calling for the Cuban
government to release all detainees and to respect internationally recognized
human rights standards. The Flake resolution
is available at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:H.RES.164:.
According to the New
York Times, “Cuban authorities said those arrested were traitors
organized and paid by the United States, specifically by James Cason, the chief
American diplomat in Havana. Mr. Cason has held numerous high-profile meetings
with dissidents, and has made some strongly critical statements against the
government,” (March 22, 2003).
But Cuba’s actions
have sparked outcry from human rights organizations, independent journalists
and high-profile international figures.
U.S. president George Bush and former president Jimmy Carter have each
issued separate statements opposing the detentions. Former president Carter said in his statement, "I
call on the Cuban government to respect those rights and to refrain from
detaining or harassing citizens who are expressing their views
peacefully."
Amnesty International issued an “Action Alert”, and other international
bodies have denounced Cuba’s actions, including the Swedish Parliament and at
the United Nations, where Peru introduced a resolution critical of Cuba at a
human rights meeting.
For
ongoing coverage of developments relating to the detention of dissidents, see
news articles from around the country and the world posted at Cubanet, updated
daily at www.cubanet.org/cubanews.html.
WORKING GROUP ON CUBA ANNOUNCED IN U.S. SENATE
In
a letter dated March 21, 2003, to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and
Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), ten U.S. Senators announced the formation
of the bipartisan “Senate Working Group on Cuba.” The letter said the working group would “examine U.S. policies
toward Cuba, including trade and travel restrictions,” citing Americans’ right
to travel and Cuba’s potential as a U.S. export market.
With the formation of the Senate Working Group
on Cuba, both chambers of the U.S. Congress now have Cuba working groups
committed to a new approach on U.S. policy toward Cuba. In the House of Representatives, the
bipartisan, fifty-member Cuba Working Group was formed in April 2002. That group produced a “Review of U.S. Policy
Toward Cuba,” and announced a nine-point legislative agenda. For more information on the House Cuba
Working Group, including its membership and policy review, please visit http://www.cubafoundation.org/congress.html.
The ten members of the Senate Working Group on
Cuba are: 5 DEMOCRATS: Max Baucus (MT); Byron Dorgan (ND); Maria Cantwell (WA);
Blanche Lincoln (AR); Jeff Bingaman (NM); 5 REPUBLICANS: Michael Enzi (WY);
Chuck Hagel (NE); Norm Coleman (MN); Jim Talent (MO); Pat Roberts (KS).
OFAC PUBLISHES NEW REGULATIONS ON CUBA
On Monday, March 24, 2003, the U.S.
Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has published new regulations
impacting Cuban travel. OFAC's program brochure on Cuba and industry overviews
for the financial community and exporters & importers have been updated accordingly.
The new regulations may be viewed on
the OFAC website at:
http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/actions/20030324.html.
The Cuba Policy Foundation is
preparing an analysis and “layman’s guide” to the new regulations, and will
release this as soon as it is complete.
For more
information on any of these matters, please contact the Cuba Policy
Foundation. ###