With more than $40 million in sales, Virginia is the third largest exporter of agricultural goods to Cuba - after Georgia and Louisiana. Some lawmakers hope to normalize trade relations - but some feel it’s best to maintain our distance.
After recently venturing down to Cuba, Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner describes how the embargo hurts Virginia farmers.
“Well it’s really difficult because the Cubans have to pay all in cash up front. We have no financial arrangements. As a matter of fact, the Cuban embassy for the United Nations in New York doesn’t even have a bank account in the United States.”
In the past few weeks former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi brought a handful of Democrats with her to Cuba - a trip she calls a sign of “friendship” between the US and the island nation that remains under a congressionally mandated embargo. Virginia’s other Democratic Senator, Tim Kaine, also recently got back from his own trip south of the US border, but not to Cuba. He went to Mexico, Columbia, and Honduras - a country especially close to his heart, because he spent time there as a missionary in his younger years. Kaine says just talk of normalizing relations with Cuba is impressing the people and leaders of Central and South American countries.
“They have an affinity for the Cubans - Spanish language, Hispanic culture, rooting for the underdog against bigger nations - so they tend to be a little cooler in their relationship with the United States as long as that is our official policy. As soon as we’re opening up the opportunity for a more normalized diplomatic relationship - they are like “great”. Now we can set that aside and nobody can use that as a straw man argument.”
Kaine says all of the Americas could benefit from better US/Cuban relations.
“And so we share a culture, we’re all Americans - north, south or central. Commerce and trade is booming, diplomatic efforts could produce two peaceful continents in the world while other continents are seeing serious challenges. There are just some real opportunities in the north-south relationships now that are exciting.”
Virginia Republicans sing a different tune than the state’s Democratic senators. Congressman Rob Wittman is raising warning flags.
“I have deep concerns about normalizing relations when we aren’t getting anything in return and when the demands from Cuba are such that they do not put the United States in a good position to achieve the things we need to achieve with the Cuban government. So I have concerns about that. Obviously there’s a significance as far as trading partner with Virginia, but again if you’re going to have a fair deal I think you need to be able to achieve some things to change how the government in Cuba functions to make sure that it truly gets to a more democratic way.”
And some Virginia Republicans, like Congressman Morgan Griffith, are vowing to use every tool they have in the fight.
“Normalize relations is the President’s prerogative, lifting trade sanctions is congressional prerogative.”
While most Virginia Republicans oppose normalizing relations, they aren’t the key voices in the debate on Capitol Hill. Some of the biggest - and most politically powerful - opponents of ending the embargo are from Florida. Sunshine State Republican Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart says the three conditions Congress placed on Cuba when it passed the embargo still need to be met before he’ll embrace any changes to U-S policy.
“Allow for release all the political prisoners…Allow for some basic freedoms - freedom of press, independent labor unions, political parties, and then call for free elections. When those three things happen - all the sanctions go away.”
But Warner says the Cuban government uses the embargo as an excuse for why the nation is so poor.
“Opening up relations and removing the embargo…I think would take away that excuse.”
Warner also sees Cuba as a place for the Virginia’s telecom companies to do business, but he’s still got to convince his powerful Florida colleagues - and those Virginia Republicans - before lawmakers ever agree to unwind the embargo.
