Small farmers say U.S. trying to sever their ties to Cuban state

[Judi Lynn]

Small farmers say U.S. trying to sever their ties to Cuban state

Published May 05, 2016/
EFE

Cuba's National Association of Small Farmers, or ANAP, said Thursday that the U.S. government's announcement last month authorizing independent producers to export coffee and additional textiles was a clear attempt to sever their ties to the state.

The statement by the ANAP, a state-run organization that represents Cuban small farmers, referred to the U.S. State Department's decision on April 22 to add coffee and additional textiles to its Section 515.582 list of allowable imports from "independent Cuban entrepreneurs."

. . .

"We Cuban small farmers are members of socialist civil society and we exist as part of the state and not in opposition to the state, which represents the power of the people," the statement read.

The ANAP said if the U.S. government was truly concerned with contributing to Cubans' wellbeing it would lift the embargo it imposed more than 50 years ago, which is the "main obstacle to the development of Cuba."

More:
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2016/05/05/small-farmers-say-us-trying-to-sever-their-ties-to-cuban-state/

(This article was produced by Spain's news service, E.F.E., not Fox "News.&quot

LBN:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141438586

[Judi Lynn]

1. Farmers Denounce US Plan to Break Cubans'' Unity

Farmers Denounce US Plan to Break Cubans'' Unity

Havana, May 5 (Prensa Latina) The National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) charged that the objective of recent measures taken by the government of the United States regarding trade is to influence Cuban farmers and separate them from the State.
A statement issued here on Thursday insists that if the US government truly wants to contribute to Cubans' welfare, it must lift, once and for all, the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed for more than 50 years, which is the main obstacle to Cuba's development.

Prensa Latina transmits the unabridged text of the statement:

STATEMENT BY THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF ANAP ABOUT MEASURES BY THE US GOVERNMENT

Last April 22, the Department of State announced the decision to include coffee in the list of Cuban products produced by the non-state sector that would be allowed being imported in that country. With that action, it was giving continuity to a measure taken by the government of the United States in February 2015, authorizing very limited Cuban exports, which excluded all goods and services produced by state companies.

It is worth noting that in its announcement, the Department of State made it clear that in order to do so, "Cuban entrepreneurs have to prove their independence from the State" and pointed out that this is another measure aimed at "supporting the Cuban people's capacity to achieve more control over their own lives and determine their country's future".

What the Department of State did not say is that due to the fact that Cuba was stripped unilaterally, after the blockade was decreed, of the treatment as a most-favored nation, to which we are entitled as a Founding State of the World Trade Organization, all Cuban products to be exported to the United States have to pay the highest customs tariffs, so it is practically impossible to import them in that country.

More:
http://www.plenglish.com//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4852831&Itemid=1