• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 03 / 25 / 2011

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Atlanta Business Chronicle - by Julie Bryant Fisher. Date: Thursday, March 24, 2011. With passenger air service to and from Atlanta and Cuba set to take off as early as this summer from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Georgia is looking once again at its economic relationship with the controversial country.

Jorge Fernandez, vice president of global commerce for the Metro Atlanta Chamber, spoke recently with Atlanta Business Chronicle about the opportunities and issues that surround the state’s dealings with Cuba.

“As a Cuban, there’s no debate. It’s time to re-look at the embargo with Cuba,” said Fernandez. “It’s been (in place) since 1962 and has not produced a regime change. I am not advocating that we sanction or support the current regime, but having new flights and bringing in opportunities in the sense of supporting the sale of agricultural products to a country whose economy is in shambles is something that needs to be done.”

Cuba’s primarily agricultural economy and the accessibility of Georgia’s ports have already stimulated significant trade activity with Georgia, according to the state.

Last year, Georgia ranked third among U.S. states in exporting to Cuba, with exports up 141 percent from 2009. Georgia’s top exports to Cuba include poultry, soybeans, pork, sausage and margarine. Cuba has also had significant growth in industries including medicines & medical equipment and telecommunications.

Last June then-Gov. Sonny Perdue led a business mission to Cuba with the goal of strengthening business relationships with the country.

With the March 7 announcement that Atlanta would join the handful of U.S. cities that offer direct flight service to Cuba, an easier path to agricultural trade potentially opens wide.

“The current (federal) administration believes it is in the best interest of the U.S. to increase people-to-people relationships with Cuba and that the U.S. should liberalize the embargo. More gateways to fly to Cuba falls within that strategy,” said Fernandez.

The current embargo strictly limits trade and business between the U.S. and Cuba. Last September, President Obama extended that embargo, following in the steps of his predecessors. The embargo traces its roots to the seizure of U.S. property in Cuba by a revolutionary government and, later, to the Cuban Missile Crisis and Cuba’s alignment with the Soviet Union, when travel restrictions to and from the country were put into place.

Over the years many U.S. presidents have pondered what to do about the embargo.The U.S. remains the fifth largest exporter to Cuba.

Many Cubans resent the U.S, liberalizing the embargo could be a good thing,” said Fernandez.

Georgia does have an advantage over some other states now that it has announced new direct flights to Cuba.

Source: www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/interbiz/2011/03/time-to-look-again-at-...