Maine governor signs trade deal with Cuba, calls for better relations

[Judi Lynn]

Sunday, Dec 11, 2005

Maine governor signs trade deal with Cuba, calls for better relations

HAVANA (AP) - Maine Governor John Baldacci signed a trade agreement with authorities in Havana on Sunday, and said the normalization of relations with communist Cuba must come "one step at a time."
Baldacci, the sixth sitting U.S. governor to visit Cuba since the United States imposed trade sanctions four decades ago, said he wanted Maine to be a leader in expanding U.S. trade with the island.

"We're working within the existing framework, trying to show other states the ability to trade with Cuba," Baldacci told a news conference. "We hope to demonstrate how important this is."

In 2001, Maine became the first U.S. state to pass a resolution urging an end to the decades-old U.S. trade and travel sanctions against the Caribbean nation.
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http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=world_home&articleID=2115462

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The article overlooks the fact that Texas, as soon as _{George W. Bush} was out of the state, passed a resolution in the state Congress to lift the travel and trade and telecommunications restrictions from Cuba.

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 54

Whereas, The relationship between the United States and Cuba has long been marked by tension and confrontation; further heightening this hostility is the 40-year-old United States trade embargo against the island nation that remains the longest-standing embargo in modern history; and

Whereas, Cuba imports nearly a billion dollars' worth of food every year, including approximately 1,100,000 tons of wheat, 420,000 tons of rice, 37,000 tons of poultry, and 60,000 tons of dairy products; these amounts are expected to grow significantly in coming years as Cuba slowly recovers from the severe economic recession it has endured following the withdrawal of subsidies from the former Soviet Union in the last decade; and

Whereas, Agriculture is the second-largest industry in Texas, and this state ranks among the top five states in overall value of agricultural exports at more than $3 billion annually; thus, Texas is ideally positioned to benefit from the market opportunities that free trade with Cuba would provide; rather than depriving Cuba of agricultural products, the United States embargo succeeds only in driving sales to competitors in other countries that have no such restrictions; and

Whereas, In recent years, Cuba has developed important pharmaceutical products, namely, a new meningitis B vaccine that has virtually eliminated the disease in Cuba; such products have the potential to protect Americans against diseases that continue to threaten large populations around the world; and

Whereas, Cuba's potential oil reserves have attracted the interest of numerous other countries who have been helping Cuba develop its existing wells and search for new reserves; Cuba's oil output has increased more than 400 percent over the last decade; and

Whereas, The United States' trade, financial, and travel restrictions against Cuba hinder Texas' export of agricultural and food products, its ability to import critical energy products, the treatment of illnesses experienced by Texans, and the right of Texans to travel freely; now, therefore, be it

Resolved,

http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2001/cr072601.htm
Thursday, July 26, 2001