TFB President gives insight into Cuba trade visit

By MANDY JOHN | Central Texas Edition

Donald Patman TFB President

November 14, 2002 -- Texas Farm Bureau President Donald Patman, along with a dozen members of the newly-formed U.S.-Cuba Trade Association, visited Havana, Cuba recently, where they met with Cuban trade ministers and the nation's Chamber of Commerce to explore expanded trade opportunities.

The group, who made the trip at the invitation of the Cuban government, explored additional purchases of U.S. agriculture, wood and medical products.

"The Texas Farm Bureau would like to seek out different ways to trade our economies with other countries that needs our services," stated Patman. "We treat North Korea differently than we treat Cuban when it comes to trade. But both are communist countries.

"It helps that Cuba is so close to Texas and other southern states," Patman said. "When we visited with the Cuban trade ministers, we were told that the total time it would take to complete a trade with Cuba would be six to seven days. That is better than the four to six months that it takes to trade with European countries."

Patman added that there are a lot of trade restrictions that make trading with other countries hard.

"The members of the U.S.-Cuba Trade Association is working very hard toward a trade agreement between Cuba and the U.S. For four weeks, the U.S. brought over products to Cuba. The trade show was very successful."

The trade show, which took place in September, allowed the U.S. to bring over food and medical products to Cuba to trade for other products.

While in Cuba, the group was able to meet with the Cuban President Fidel Castro twice.

"Both times we met Castro, he was very receptive to our purpose. He was friendly and assured us that he was willing to work on getting done what was needed.

"The first time we got to meet Castro, it was around three in the afternoon. We stayed for a couple of hours and left. Then we were invited to his mansion to discuss trade issues with him again at ten that evening. We discussed these issues while partaking in a three-hour meal.

"When we arrived at his mansion, he met us at the door and kept us there for 30 minutes talking about a ballet he just saw. He was talking about how all the people, from the kids to the adults, thought it was the best ballet that Cuba had to offer. He was a very gracious host, and I would even add that he is a very charming man.

"He didn't speak any English to us, but had an interpreter there to translate what was said. In my opinion, she was the best interpreter that we have ever had in any foreign country. He was very interesting to talk with and listen to."

During the meetings, Patman said that there was discussion on lifting the ban in Cuba so that Cubans and Americans can travel to and from both countries.

"Presently there are almost two million people that visit Cuba. I can't tell you if lifting the ban would be better or worse, but it looks like it might happen. It looks like they are discussing lifting it as soon as this year or, at the most, in two years."

"I had planned on going back to Cuba this past summer, but didn't because Bush said that Cuba might be holding terrorist in their country. We didn't want to be in the middle of any political problems. We found out, though, that there was no evidence to prove that accusation."

Patman also said that he learned that at one time Cuba was a resort-type place before Castro overthrew the government. Now, a lot of the buildings are in shambles. He did say that they are slowly beginning to renovate the older buildings.

"Cuba is a very interesting country to visit. When you go down the street, it's difficult to tell what's in a store because there are no signs. Streets don't have any signs on them so it's hard to know what street you are on.

"While we were there, we noticed how friendly the people were. You could tell they didn't have a lot of money, but they had a certain pride about them. Their houses were in desperate need of repair, but their lawns were very neat.

"You look at where Castro lives and where the people of Cuba live and you can tell that there is not a free distribution of wealth in this country. It's certain that they are a communist country."

Patman said the number one need in Cuba from the U.S. is food, such as cheese and powdered milk.

"After coming back from Cuba, we all felt that our meetings have produced a working relationship between both the officials and the trade associations. We hope to begin working on having free information flowing from both the U.S. and Cuba."