Attempts to Thwart US Food Sales
to Cuba Harshly Criticized
Senator Byron Dorgan D-N.D.
demanded an Inspector General´s
probe into OFAC´s
reinterpretation of 2000 trade
law and said he would introduce
legislation in Congress to
prevent thwarting sales of food
and agricultural products to
Cuba.
The expected new guidelines to
appear in about three weeks,
come after the Treasury
Department"s Office of Foreign
Assets Control (OFAC) has
instructed US banks to delay
some Cuban payments to exporters
because of concern about
possible violations of the
strict no-credit terms of 2000
legislation allowing the food
sales, sources said
Exports to the island may be
jeopardized by the
reinterpretation of 2000 trade
law, warned Richard Lobb,
spokesman for the National
Chicken Council, based in
Washington D.C. It is a
bureaucratic interpretation of
the law, he said.
The Trade Sanctions Reform and
Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (TSREEA)
and OFAC regulations requires
Cuba "payment of cash in
advance". According to experts
in trade of agricultural
products, paying cash on receipt
of documents is considered "cash
payment in advance."
The practice since operations
started in December 2001, has
been for Cuban buyers to direct
a third-country bank to make
payment to the U.S. bank account
of an exporter once a ship has
been loaded and begun its 2-3
day trip to the island.
This new obstacle to exports to
Cuba would require the island to
deposit money for the purchases
in U.S. banks before shipments
leave port for Havana, which
would be in the opinion of
Alabama Agriculture Commissioner
Ron Sparks, who supports trade
ties and has visited Cuba to
that end, a reckless act at the
expense of US farmers.
The U.S. Wheat Associates, which
represents the export arm of the
wheat industry, warns in an
upcoming newsletter that a
prepayment requirement "may stop
all U.S. sales of wheat and
other agricultural commodities
to Cuba."
In a letter last week to U.S.
Treasury Secretary John Snow,
eight Democrats and seven
Republicans from the U.S. House
of Representatives said there
were "no legitimate grounds" to
consider current payment
practices a credit extension.
They warned requiring prepayment
would discourage Cuban purchases
by creating the possibility that
shipments could be seized before
they left the United States.
Uribe postpones extradition of
rebel chief to US
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe
has postponed signing a final
order to extradite Ricardo
Palmera, rebel chief of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC), to the United
States, local media said on
Friday.
Ricardo Palmera, also known as
Simon Trinidad, was wanted in
the United States on
drug-trafficking charges, and
the Supreme Court of Bogota
approved the extradition on Nov.
24.
Uribe suspended the arrest
warrants against leaders of the
FARC,the country's largest rebel
group with up to 20,000
combatants, inview of a possible
peace process between the
government and the FARC, the
reports said.
Colombia has been plagued by a
four-decade civil war, in which
leftist rebels, far-right
paramilitaries and government
troops fight each other, killing
about 3,500 people every year.
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Raul Castro Attends Youth
Congress" debates
Cuban
Minister of the Revolutionary
Armed Forces (FAR), Army
General, Raul Castro, attended
today the debates on national
defense which are taking place
at the VIII Congress of the
Young Communist League (UJC).
The 300 delegates attending the
commission on defense , one of
the six commission of the event,
agreed on the importance of
giving protection to the social
project develop in this nation
for more than four decades.
The participants, having the
presence of the also Cuban First
Vice president, will analyze the
responsibility of the society in
the incorporation of the youth
to the active military service
for two years
The congress also reviews the
youth participation in
educational transformations, in
health and in social precaution
programs, which are the central
issues of the Battle of Ideas
boosted in this country that is
seeking for a general
comprehensive culture for the
citizens.
The event is taking place at the
Convention Palace gathering 1200
delegates and over 400 guests,
that through commissions, are
talking about their experiences
and criteria on the aspects to
deal with.
Otto Rivero, First Secretary of
the Young Communist League (UJC)
pointed out that to cram
students for been teachers is
not an urgency but a new method
to form values and to win
vocation.
The UJC was founded in April
1962 gathering 500 thousand
youth within a political
organization which main
objectives are devoted to the
youth in Cuba.
The organization keeps in
contact with 218 similar
organizations from different
parts of the world and it is
member of the World Federation
of Democratic Youth and keeps
relations with other 14
international organizations.
Over 200 delegates, from all
over the country representing
all social sectors, attend the
meeting that will finish on
Sunday with an open Tribune.
According to the program an
exhibition will be inaugurated
this afternoon dealing with the
achievements and innovations of
the UJC members.
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