This is an "Embargo"?
By Humberto Fontova
FrontPageMagazine.com | March 2, 2007
A legislative scheme is gaining steam in Washington, greatly aided by
lobbyists for Archer Daniels Midland, to "make it easier" for Cuba to
"buy" from U.S. vendors. Despite all the scribbling and gabble about the
"U.S. embargo of Cuba," or "Blockade" as termed by The Congressional
Black Caucus and Castro lobbyists (but I repeat myself), the U.S. has
done over a billion dollars worth of business with Cuba the last few
years and currently ranks as her biggest food supplier and fifth biggest
import partner. Much of this business is with ADM.
Nevertheless, ADM executives and Castro lobbyists (but I repeat myself)
whine that restrictions on doing business with Cuba are "too onerous."
These "restrictions" stipulate one thing primarily: that the Castroites
pay cash for U.S. imports. Well, as Strother Martin asked Butch Cassidy
and The Sundance Kid as they descended that Bolivian hill: "Do you wanna
know why?"
Glad you asked. Following please find a list of items many in the
Mainstream Media and Castro lobbyists (but I repeat myself) are
frantically trying to erase or obscure:
In its first year in power the Castro regime received $200 million in
subsidies from U.S. taxpayers while denouncing U.S. economic ties with
Cuba as "Yankee imperialism!" The following year Castro's KGB -trained
security forces stormed into 5,911 U.S owned businesses in Cuba and
stole $2 billion from outraged U.S. businessmen and stockholders at
gunpoint. Rubbing his hands in triumphant glee, Castro boasted at
maximum volume to the entire world that he was freeing Cuba from "Yankee
economic slavery!" (Che's term, actually) and that "he would never
repay a penny!"
This is the only promise Fidel Castro has ever kept in his life.
"Okay, fine," said a bewildered U.S. in 1962. (between 1950-1960 a
befuddled U.S. made several back-channel contacts attempting to
ascertain the nature of Castroite grievances and trying to mend fences.
Argentina's president, Arturo Frondizi, was the conduit for many. Every
overture was haughtily rebuffed.) "Well, If that's the way you Cuban
Communists feel," finally said an exasperated U.S. "Then fine, consider
yourselves formally emancipated."
Thus the original embargo.
Far from a "Blockade" as the World Council of Churches and Castro
lobbyists (but I repeat myself) label it, Cuba, even then, remained
perfectly free to transact with most of the nations of the world. But
the deals with the Eastern Bloc were the sweetest.
The Soviets sent the equivalent in economic subsidies of eight Marshall
Plans to Cuba, which was not a war-ravaged continent of 300 million
people but an island of 6 million people who shortly before had
enjoyed a higher-per-capita income than half of Europe. These Cuban
citizens had owned more TVs' per capita than any European country, had
enjoyed the services (some free, most extremely cheap) of more doctors
and dentists per capita then citizens in the U.S. or Britain and had
never emigrated from their homeland. Instead, in the 40's and 50's when
Cubans could get U.S. visas for the asking and Cubans were perfectly
free to emigrate with all their property and family, fewer Cubans lived
in the U.S. than Americans in Cuba. At the time Cuban laborers earned
the 8th highest wages--not in Latin America--but in the world.
By a process that defies, not just the laws of economics, but seemingly
the very laws of physics, 40 years later Castroite Cuba emerged from
this Soviet largesse with among the lowest per-capita incomes in the
Hemisphere, a lower credit rating than Somalia, fewer phones per capita
than Papua New Guinea, fewer internet connections than Uganda, and 20
per cent of her population gone--all at total cost of their property and
many at extreme cost to life and limb. An estimated 70 thousand perished
by exposure, drowning or the jaws of sharks while desperately fleeing a
nation formerly richer than Japan and swamped with European immigrants.
"Typical Communist mismanagement," say most about Cuba's wretched
economy. Actually, given the goals of Cuba's rulers, (undisputed
political and economic power) the Cuban economy is expertly managed.
In 1984 ADM chief Dwayne Andreas became U.S. chairman of something
called the U.S.-USSR Trade and Economic Council. Just from 1991 to 1993,
the U.S., Dept. of Agriculture Department extended $5 billion in credits
to the Soviet Union and the newly designated states resulting from her
break-up.
A study by the Cato Institute in 1995, attempted to asses the cost to
the U.S. taxpayer of this bit of ADM lobbying but was foiled. "The U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation refuses to
disclose the amount of ADM exports to the Soviet Union and Russia that
might have been covered by U.S. government credit guarantees on which
those countries later defaulted," it reads. But the report does disclose
that 43 per cent of ADM's profits come from products subsidized by the
US. taxpayer and that from 1980 to 1995 ADM profits cost U.S taxpayers
$40 billion.
In 1998 a lobbying group called Americans for Humanitarian Trade with
Cuba found Dwayne Andreas on its board. A few years later he also
co-chaired the U.S.-Cuban Trade and Economic Council. Andreas, (now
retired from ADM) is among the primary benefactors of the World Council
of Churches whose manifesto advocates that: "Economic sanctions should
be used to enforce compliance with international law and humanitarian
principles. We call on the international community to apply immediate
and comprehensive sanctions. We promote an end to all investments."
The WCC's humanitarian admonition applied exclusively to segregationist
regimes. South Africa, you see, did not buy U.S. grain. They grew their
own. Now regimes that are Stalinist, deadbeat AND segregationist--well,
we must lavish them with commerce.
Jimmy Carter, who as President backed unholy tariffs against foreign
ethanol imports to the enormous satisfaction of ABM and who upon
retiring as gentleman farmer, sold ADM his peanut warehouses, proclaimed
that: "the embargo against Cuba is the stupidest law ever passed in the
U.S."
Yet Presdient Jimmy Carter, imposed more economic sanctions against more
nations than any American president in modern history. These sanctions
were against, Rhodesia, South Africa, Uruguay Paraguay, Chile, (the
Shah's) Iran and (Somoza's) Nicaragua. Carter was extremely selective
in imposing his sanctions, let's give him that. He was careful to punish
only U.S. allies.
Last month, one of the worlds most respected economic forecasting firms,
the London- based Economist Intelligence Unit, ranked Cuba as virtually
the world's worst country business-wise. Only Iran and Angola ranked
lower. This firm predicts that Cuba's abysmal business climate will
remain that way for the next five years, at the very least.
Dun & Bradstreet also rates Cuba among the world's worst, right below
Belarus. Moody's rating is off the bottom of the chart as "very poor."
Their reasoning: Standard & Poors refuses even to rate Cuba, regarding
the economic figures released by the regime as utterly bogus.
Today Cuba's foreign debt, including to the former Soviet Union,
approaches $40 billion. In 1986 Cuba defaulted on most of its foreign
debt to Europe. France's version of the U.S. government's Export- Import
Bank, (named COFACE) recently cut off Cuba's credit line. Mexico's
Bancomex recently did likewise. This came about because the Castro
regime stuck it to French taxpayers for $175 million and to Mexican
taxpayers for $365 million. Bancomex was forced to impound Cuban assets
in three different countries in an attempt to recoup its losses.
Yet Castro lobbyists on the hill insist that more trade with Cuba—on
their terms—will be a boon and blessing to the U.S.
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