Former Alabama Treasurer John McMillan highlighted the opportunities that U.S. farmers would have in Cuba and the possibility of exchange in both directions if there were normal relations between the two countries today.
During an exclusive dialogue with Prensa Latina in Montgomery, capital of the state of Alabama, McMillan, in office from 2019-2021, recalled that one of the best moments of his two visits to Cuba was going to rural areas "where we met some of the tobacco growers and saw how cigars were made".
They toured agricultural cooperatives where "we learned more about how they work." In addition, they observed "where there would be opportunities for U.S. farmers" and agricultural interests that in the future would become "an active exchange that could go both ways."
The current director of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission noted that the feeling of friendship between the people of Cuba and the United States is palpable.
"An average person, the farmer in Alabama or the retail grocery store people in Alabama feel that they would like to exchange and build personal relationships, which is even the simplest way to describe that," he maintained.
We got the impression when we were there that they really enjoyed those kinds of relationships and the person-to-person questions and answers and talking about how you grow this or that, and how you grow that," he said.
I participated -he explained- in an agricultural exposition where "we spent the whole afternoon at the big rodeo and I love horses and cattle and I have been around them in my life and we saw some of the most beautiful ones there".
However, those ties are hampered by the persistence of the blockade imposed more than 60 years ago by the U.S. government that limits even to the freedom of its citizens to travel to the largest island in the Caribbean.
When asked by the reporter about the current electoral cycle in this country, he said that there are still too many uncertainties to make predictions about the outcome of this year's elections, but that, in his opinion, ultimately, "they will be decided by the economy".
There are a few months to go before we get fully into the heart of the election campaign, McMillan said, predicting that "President (Joe) Biden will probably be the nominee for the Democratic Party, and it looks like former President (Donald) Trump will definitely be the nominee for the Republican Party."
He emphasized that there are different issues that will be part of the presidential race, only that in the end the economy is the main reference for voters when they face the ballot.
"We actually still have economic problems and if you pay attention to the polls and what we see on television the immigration issue is perhaps the biggest problem we have right now," McMillan stressed.
However, we are watching to see what changes take place in the economy, in inflation, because "every election the focus ends up being on those issues," he added. I think," he said, "if inflation remains relatively high and it costs families more to eat and to have energy, especially gasoline for automobiles, because we are very dependent on vehicles in the United States, that will determine who wins the election.
But public opinion doesn't really mean anything "because our elections are decided by the Electoral College (composed of 538 electors from every state in the Union)" and the popular vote doesn't really mean much, especially when the races are close, he explained.
It so happens that the president and vice-president of the United States are not elected directly by the citizens but by "electors" of the Electoral College. A complex process that for some critics is unfair and undemocratic.
For example, in 2016 the numbers showed that the then Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, got a higher number of votes than Trump, her Republican rival, who was announced winner of the race for the White House because he got 304 Electoral College votes: 34 more than the 270 required to take the presidency.