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NOTICIAS
DE CUBA
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Who Canceled Christmas in Cuba? ment
in El Nuevo Herald Urges Action against Bush Travel
Restrictions
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Freedom
to Travel Campaign, a project of the Center for
International Policy, devoted to legalizing travel
to Cuba, has placed a print ment in El
Nuevo Herald urging action by Cuban-Americans
and others against the toughened travel restrictions
to Cuba issued this year by President Bush.
The half-page, Spanish language ment
features a picture of President George W. Bush
under the headline "One Man Cancelled Christmas
in Cuba, and it wasn't Fidel Castro..."
The ment goes on to say:
"This year, thousands of Cuban-Americans
who hoped to spend Christmas in Cuba with their
families will be denied that right by President
Bush and his new travel restrictions. Send a message
to Senator-elect Mel Martinez and our other leaders
in Washington that families in Cuba should not
have to celebrate Christmas alone. Visit our website:
http://www.cubacentral.com/holidays, and tell
Washington to lift the travel ban on Cuban-Americans
and all Americans."
According to Sarah Stephens, director of the
Freedom to Travel Campaign, "the Bush policy
divides Cuban families on both sides of the Florida
Straits and this is a terrible pain that families
will be feeling as they approach the holidays
and miss the opportunity to celebrate Christmas
together. Dividing families on Christmas is a
powerful symbol of a policy that is unjust and
ineffective all year around."
The ment appears December 21, 2004 in
El Nuevo Herald, a newspaper with a week day circulation
of 89,224 in Miami, Florida. A copy of the ment
including the Spanish-language translation can
be viewed at the Freedom to Travel Campaign's
website: http://www.cubacentral.com/holidays.
Cuba Agrees to Buy $125M in U.S. Goods
By Vanessa Arrington, Associated
Press Writer. December 18, 2004.
Cuba Agrees to Buy $125 Million in American Farm
Goods From U.S. Companies at Havana Trade Talks
HAVANA (AP) -- Cuba has agreed to buy about $125
million in farm goods from U.S. companies attending
trade talks in Havana, officials said.
The deals, which were agreed on during three
days of negotiations that ended Friday, sured
expectations, Pedro Alvarez, chairman of the Cuban
food import company Alimport, told The Associated
Press.
Cuba had expected to sign deals worth about
$100 million going into the talks, he said.
More than 300 people, primarily producers of
American farm goods, attended the meetings, as
did several lawmakers -- including Sen. Max Baucus
of Montana, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance
Committee.
On Thursday, Cuban President Fidel Castro addressed
the group for several hours on subjects ranging
from Cuba's health care system to a recent government
decision to take the American dollar out of circulation
on the island.
Despite the positive vibes, Alvarez on the opening
day of talks told the group that recent actions
by the U.S. government prompted the Cuban government
to buy some farm products from countries other
than the United States.
Beginning a few weeks ago, some companies trading
with Cuba found that payments made by the island
were not being credited to bank s in the
United States on instructions from the U.S. government.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets
Control, which isters policy regarding a
four-decade trade embargo against Cuba, has since
let transactions proceed on a case-by-case basis.
The action led Cuba to buy 385,000 tons of products
-- including wheat, corn, soy products, powdered
milk and chicken -- from other countries, Alvarez
said. The purchases meant U.S. companies missed
out on about $100 million, he said.
"Food shouldn't be used as a political instrument,"
he told the AP.
Banks and the U.S. Treasury department have questions
about whether a 2000 law permitting agricultural
trade with Cuba requires that U.S. exporters be
paid before shipping their products to Cuba.
Some exporters currently ship products to Cuba
before getting paid, but Cuban importers do not
get the goods until they pay the U.S. exporter.
Under an exception to the embargo, American agricultural
goods can be sold to the island on a cash-only
basis. Including this week's deals, Cuba has contracted
to buy more than $1 billion in American farm goods
-- including shipping and hefty bank fees to send
payments through third nations -- since it began
taking advantage of the exception in 2001.
Associated Press writer Andrea Rodriguez contributed
to this report.
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