The Miami Herald
Sep. 27, 2002

Castro, U.S. exhibitors upbeat

Agribusinesses sign deals with Cuba, want more

  BY NANCY SAN MARTIN

  HAVANA - Led by a suit-wearing Fidel Castro, Cuban government officials on Thursday welcomed American executives to an unprecedented trade fair and encouraged them to assist in dismantling the trade embargo that has helped to keep the island economically isolated for more than four decades.

  Castro did not speak during the opening ceremony but nodded approvingly and clapped enthusiastically at Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura's call for closer relations.

  ''I never dreamed in my lifetime that I would stand here in the great country of Cuba and never dreamed to see our two flags side by side,'' said Ventura, who has been criticized by the Bush administration and by Gov. Jeb Bush for attending the event. ``It proves to me, just like when I ran for governor of Minnesota, that anything can happen.''

  Castro then strolled around the nearly 300 exhibits and sampled some of the wares. Asked by a reporter to respond to criticisms that food purchased at the fair would never reach the population, Castro said:

  ''Of course, we can't prohibit a tourist from buying bread, but a part of the goods we have been buying will be consumed by our poultry,'' he said. ``Chickens, when they are well fed, can be very productive.

  ''Dozens of millions of tons of food have been distributed for free to six million people,'' he said. ``But we don't publicize that.''

  Castro added that ``the day the blockade ends, I will be a little nostalgic, because we have been faithful companions for 40 years.''

  Pedro Alvarez Borrego, president of the government agency responsible for foreign purchases, called exhibitors at the U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition ''a genuine U.S. representation'' of American commodities.

  He said the trade show will help build warmer relations between the two nations.

  Cuba already has purchased millions of dollars worth of products from U.S. firms since Hurricane Michelle devastated crops last year, providing a basis for the cash-only deals. Several more contracts were signed Thursday for additional purchases, including 30 million eggs valued at $1.2 million, $9.7 million worth of rice and soya products, and apples valued at $10,700 from Philadelphia, Massachusetts and Virginia.

  The government also signed a one-year $1.9 million shipping contract with Crowley Liner Services of Jacksonville. The company was among the first to provide cargo delivery to Cuba over the past year.

  Many more contracts are expected to be signed by the time the fair ends Monday. By the middle of next year, Cuba is expected to buy an estimated $250 million of food and agricultural commodities from the United States, said event organizer Peter Nathan. That could bump Cuba to as high as 33rd -- from 51st -- on the list of 228 countries that buy agricultural and food products from U.S. companies.

  Alvarez said food purchases from the United States now account for 16 percent of imports to the island, but expects that grow in the next several years.

  ''These numbers are being calculated conservatively,'' Alvarez said. ``A growing interest by various U.S. sectors -- including members of Congress -- will someday
  bring normalized trade between our two countries.''

  Meanwhile, as he strolled the aisles, Castrosipped a soy-based chocolate shake, and wine.

  Later, during an afternoon session where he oversaw the signing of a $1.2 million egg-sale deal with Radlo Foods LLC of Massachusetts, Castro said he was at the fairy because he is the one who guarantees that payments for the cash purchases are fulfilled.

  ''I have to make sure all the bills are paid,'' he said.

  He said the relationships fostered at the trade show ''must follow the principle of mutual convenience,'' adding that he wasn't sure what was more important, ``profits or the philosophy behind trade.''

  ''The main idea,'' Castro said, ``is that both sides benefit.

  ''Trade needs good doses of good faith,'' Castro said. ``We simply want to have a fair trade, a fair exchange that bears in mind the interests of both parties.''

  Castro also said that Cuba could guarantee payments of loans on food purchases if credit was ever granted.

  ''Food has first priority in our country,'' he said. ``That is something we take very seriously. Hard currency does not have wings. There is no flight of capital here. So there is no risk that our country will not pay its bills, if one day we are given credit.''

  The fair has attracted hundreds of executives and agricultural government representatives from North Dakota, Iowa, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina.

  Also present at the fair Thursday were a number of Cuban dignitaries, including Ricardo Alarcón, president of the National Assembly, and Castro's older brother Ramón Castro, who has long been involved with Cuban agricultural endeavors.

  Participants challenged the Bush administration's contention that Cuba does not represent a significant market for them, even as they acknowledged that purchases from the island would make up only a small percentage of exports.

  ''In agriculture, a small percentage is very important,'' said Allen Andreas, head of Illinois-based Archer Daniels Midland Co., primary sponsor of the event. ``From
  ADM's viewpoint, this is a very important market.''

  A representative of Dolphin Shipping and Trading in Georgia, which already has sold $300,000 worth of eggs to Cuba, handed Castro a pair of binoculars.

  Castro joked that he could eat the eggs when he didn't have any more teeth and use the binoculars when he begins to lose his sight.

  But it was the livestock that seemed to hold his interest longest. Castro joined the animals inside the corral, petted a shorthorn bull named ''Minnesota Red'' and
  bottle-fed one of the young bison, commonly referred to as ``American buffaloes.''

  Castro is said to be fond of buffaloes, drinking a daily cup of milk produced by Cuba's water buffaloes. He asked about milk production, the animals' ages, and how much they weighed.

  ''Just general cow conversation,'' said Ralph Kaehler, a farm owner from St. Charles, Minn., who brought 10 animals to the fair: pairs of pigs, dairy cows, beef cattle, sheep and bison.

  The livestock will remain in Cuba for breeding.