At the same time, sales of agricultural products to Cuba have increased, making U.S. companies the largest suppliers of such products and the sixth-largest trader with the island.

According to a September 20 Associated Press report, Cuba’s tourism minister, Manuel Marrero, said the measures have resulted in a 25 percent reduction in tourist travel from the United States. At the same time, he said, Cuba is expected to receive more than 2 million tourists this year, mainly from Canada and Europe. This would be a record number, according to an article in south Florida’s Sun Sentinel, and would bring $2 billion in income for Havana.

Washington’s new measures limit visits by Cuban Americans to Cuba to once every three years and reduce the amount of money they can spend on such a trip to $300. The steps also limit cash remittances to “immediate” family members—excluding uncles, aunts, and cousins—and prohibit sending such funds to anyone who is a member of Cuba’s Communist Party.

The Sentinel said it’s dubious that Washington will be able to effectively enforce these restrictions, citing the lack of any U.S. government information on implementation.

The paper also reported that since the new measures went into effect, sales of agricultural goods to Cuba from the United States increased by 25 percent and are projected to reach a record $400 million a year. In addition, it noted, last month the U.S. Senate subcommittee on agriculture approved a bill easing restrictions on U.S. companies marketing agricultural and medical goods to Cuba.

Washington approved the cash sales of agricultural products to Cuba following extensive damage to Cuban crops by Hurricane Michelle in 2001. Since that time, the total amount of such sales to Cuba have reached nearly $1 billion.

According to the October 3 Miami Herald, contracts between the Cuban import company Alimport and U.S. companies include nonbinding “advocacy agreements.” These accords stipulate that U.S. companies doing business with Cuba will work to have the decades-old U.S. embargo against the island lifted. Such agreements have been signed by at least four members of the U.S. Congress, the governor of Kansas, and several agribusiness groups.

The Herald reported that some U.S. business executives have complained that Havana has decreased purchases from some companies in order to apply pressure on them to show a good faith effort to act on the stipulation. The Houston-based Sysco Corp., for example, lost $500,000 in sales when it rescinded such an agreement with Alimport.  
 
 
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