It is a pleasure and a satisfaction to have them present in Cuba in such an important composition, with secretaries of Agriculture of several states and representatives of the U.S. agricultural sector, stressed the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, upon receiving the delegation of northern farmers who are currently visiting us.
This is a sector with which we have a long-standing relationship, he said, "a sector that has always had an understanding and sensitivity towards the Cuban people"; a sector -he added- "that has always worked to find ways to break down walls, ways of greater rapprochement and benefit for both countries".
The President emphasized that "if it were not for the blockade, we would have many mutual opportunities to work, to move forward for the benefit of both peoples".
We are a small country, but we are not a negligible market; we are working to ensure food for 11 million Cubans, said Díaz-Canel to the agricultural executives, and recalled that there has been a permanent dialogue between Cuba and U.S. farmers, and delegations from that sector are frequently received on the island.
This is the first time that the National Association of U.S. Departments of Agriculture (Nasda) has organized a delegation to visit Cuba.
Attending the exchange were Ted A. McKinney, Nasda president; Megan McDonald, Nasda official; Donald F. Lamb, Indiana Department of Agriculture director; Bryan Paul Hurbult, Connecticut Secretary of Agriculture; Christine R. Clark, Montana Secretary of Agriculture; and Michael Strain, Louisiana Secretary of Agriculture.
Also participating were Blake D. Ramsey, Nasda Market Promotion Officer; Thomas E. Peterson, Minnesota Secretary of Agriculture; Ronald J. Karney, Nasda Officer; Amanda Beal, Maine Commissioner of Agriculture; Hugh Weathers, South Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture; Ernesto Baron, representative of Usapeec and USA Rice Federation; and Paul Johnson, co-chair of the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba.
As is well known, the U.S. agricultural sector has been one of the most active and dynamic in favor of improving bilateral relations and lifting coercive measures.
The activism of U.S. farmers was fundamental so that, in 2000, the U.S. Congress passed the Sanctions Reform and Exports Expansion Act, which allowed the island to buy food there, although under disadvantageous conditions, imposed by anti-Cuban sectors and against the will of U.S. farmers.
According to the chronology of these ties, they have supported bills to relax blockade regulations, such as those opposed to the prohibition of travel to Cuba and those aimed at favoring the granting of credits and achieving the authorization of Cuban exports to the neighboring nation, which are currently prohibited.
After the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, exchanges between the two countries in the agricultural area were strengthened, including the signing of two memorandums.
There have been many federal and state visits to the island, in addition to the trip made to Cuba in 2015 by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and in 2016 by the Cuban Minister of Agriculture. Also noteworthy are the individual visits of commissioners and secretaries of Agriculture to the Greater Antilles.
In recent years, several agricultural conferences have been held between the two sectors, both in Cuba and in the United States. During his two stays in New York, the President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, has held meetings with representatives of the sector, to whom he has ratified his Government's willingness to expand ties.
The current exchanges between the agricultural sectors of Cuba and the United States, following the trip organized by Nasda, illustrate the real potential for respectful exchange, cooperation and interest in advancing mutually beneficial projects that could characterize relations between the two countries.