Steaming Through the Embargo

By Tim Padgett

A large crack in the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba will open this week as the first commercial shipments of U.S. food in 38 years are due to arrive in Havana. After Hurricane Michelle ravaged Cuba last month, compounding the island's steep drop in tourism revenues after Sept. 11, Castro refused relief aid from Washington, his archenemy. But the communist dictator did agree to pay $30 million in cash for grain, poultry and vegetable oil from U.S. companies like ADM and Cargill--something he had vowed earlier he would never do. Under pressure from U.S. business and farmers, Congress last year loosened the economic embargo against Cuba, in force since 1962, by allowing commercial sales of food and medicine, as long as Castro pays up front in cash. Castro had rejected that condition as an insult, even though importing goods from the nearby U.S. is far cheaper than buying from Europe or Asia. His turnabout has Washington wondering just how badly Cuba's threadbare economy is suffering. Says a U.S. official: "Castro is just paying for the free aid we offered so he can save political face."

The food shipments will also give strength to the moderates in both Cuba and the U.S. who are seeking an end to the cold war standoff between the two nations. Castro's decision to buy the food--which aides insist is a one-time emergency move--will boost the growing influence of Cuba's economic liberalizers. And the fact that a U.S. commercial shipment is actually headed for Havana--a move hard-line Cuban-American leaders have bitterly fought--further erodes the embargo's flagging support.

--By Tim Padgett