Ag Waiver Sends Daiquiris Mix, Newsprint to Cuba

Ag Waiver Sends Daiquiris Mix, Newsprint to Cuba
LYNNE SLADKY | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 7:34 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 7:34 p.m.

MIAMI | Jugs of daiquiri mix. Gourmet nuts. Rolls of newsprint. Not
exactly humanitarian aid, but still among the items sold to Cuba under
an agricultural waiver carved out of the decades-old U.S. trade embargo.
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American businesses are raking in more than $700 million a year selling
these and other products to the Cuban government under the waiver, which
was passed by Congress partly on humanitarian grounds and signed in 2000
by President Bill Clinton.

Backers said the measure would expand U.S. markets and help the
communist country feed its people. Some of the goods, though, wind up in
a select group of supermarkets where few Cubans can shop, or in the
island's exclusive resorts and hotels.

The embargo was imposed in 1961 at the height of the Cold War. The
waiver, which was championed by politicians from agricultural states,
covers hundreds of categories, though the biggest sales to Cuba last
year were still the basics - $196 million in corn, $139 million in
poultry and $135 million in wheat.

One of the first U.S. companies to sign a deal with Cuba was a drink mix
company in Fort Lauderdale. Splash Frozen Tropical Drinks frequently
provides the mixes for the daiquiris and margaritas tourists sip at
Havana's legendary Hotel Nacional.

The waiver is so broad that it includes beer, soda and a host of
inedible items such as beauty products, artwork, utility poles, kitchen
cabinets and Alabama newsprint.

Ag Waiver Sends Daiquiris Mix, Newsprint to Cuba | theledger.com | The
Ledger | Lakeland, FL (15 May 2009)

http://www.theledger.com/article/20090514/news/905145046