This photo taken on September 29, 2015 shows US President Barack Obama as he shakes hands with Cuba’s President Raul Castro during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in NY.
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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said Tuesday that farm officials want to lay the groundwork so American agricultural exporters can seize new opportunities in Cuba if the trade embargo on the country is lifted.
“Today’s steps build on the actions of the last 15 months as we continue to break down economic barriers, empower the Cuban people and advance their financial freedoms, and chart a new course in U.S.-Cuba relations”.
Sanford has traveled to Cuba twice on trips organized by private organizations and nonprofits.
There are now 45 publishers in Cuba – all state sponsored and cash-starved – they don’t have access to USA markets, or to the services and expertise of the American publishing community.
The Cuban government has accused the US of waging a worldwide economic war against Cuba that overrode other countries’ laws allowing business with Cuba.
Tom Udall says he’ll be accompanying President Barack Obama on his visit to Cuba next week.
-Hiring – U.S. companies can hire Cuban nationals, in a non-immigrant status, to work or perform in the United States provided that no additional payments are made to the Cuban government related to their sponsorship or hiring.
Speaking at a press conference in Washington on Tuesday, Gross who was released after five years in December 2014, said Cuba’s economy was “fractured” and Havana needed to turn to trade to improve the country’s situation.
“If Cuba experienced trade with Houston commensurate with its size and population, Houston anticipates that the figure for the annual Houston-Cuba trade would rapidly again exceed $100 million per year”, officials wrote.
He added: “That’s obviously been one of the issues that Major League Baseball has been discussing with Cuba”.
Obama’s visit to Cuba next week is the first for a sitting USA president in almost 90 years. Obama’s administration has approved both ferries and cruises over the a year ago, but neither service has started. But a formal ban on US tourism remains in place.
Outlining the trip to reporters, Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said that the Tuesday morning speech would be “as important as anything else he’s doing” on the island. But Obama has claimed near-limitless leverage to implement the embargo in a way that essentially renders it void. Ortega is significant because, during negotiations to renew diplomatic relations between the USA and Cuba, the cardinal went to the White House and hand-delivered a letter from Pope Francis to President Obama, urging peace.
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“We see this speech as a unique moment in the history between our two countries”, Rhodes said.
