Free trade v. free lunch with a string attached

By
Nelson P. Valdes                                                               Read Spanish Version

The
U.S. offered to provide humanitarian assistance of $100,000, plus a
team that would travel to Cuba to determine what the island needs.
Cuba responded that it didn’t need anyone telling them what they
need. What they did request is for the U.S. government to allow
private U.S. food companies credit facilities for selling Cuba food.
Bush’s Administration says no. So, Cubans want to buy goods, but Bush
wants to teach the Cubans the real meaning of free trade: free
lunches — after making Cuba suffer for almost fifty years from non-
free trade embargo policies. Irony triumphs as (even) right wing
Cuban Americans plead with Bush to lift restrictions on trade with
the island.