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U.S. Food Arrives in Cuba NewsMax.com WiresHAVANA -- The 623-foot freighter Ikan Mazatlan carrying the first commercial shipment of food in almost 40 years from the United States arrived in communist Cuba Sunday. The freighter, which carried 24,000 tons of corn from New Orleans, was one of two ships that arrived in Havana with the first direct commercial agricultural exports from the United States to Cuba since 1963. The MV Express also arrived Sunday from Jacksonville, Fla., carrying 500 tons of frozen chicken. The United States, which imposed a trade embargo on Cuba in 1962, authorized the shipment in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Michelle to the Caribbean island last month. Several more ships are due in Cuba in the next few weeks carrying wheat, beans, rice and corn. The shipments were made possible when the U.S. Congress passed a law last year allowing American companies to sell products to Cuba on a humanitarian basis. However, the embargo against Cuba remains in place. Representatives of American agribusiness hope the shipments will lead to increased trade with Cuba, eventually leading to a new market for U.S. exports. "It's highly important," said Mark Lambert of the Illinois Corn Growers Association. "It's a market that you can darn near hit with a stone from Florida." The shipments left their respective ports as the U.S. Senate on Friday debated a provision of the omnibus farm bill that would allow Cuba to purchase U.S. agricultural products on credit. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., a longtime opponent of Fidel Castro's Cuba, warned: "The Cuban government does not pay its bills. Why would any senator be eager for their home state business ... to assume the risk of doing business with the Castro regime?" Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved.
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