SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 01A

LENGTH: 1085 words

HEADLINE: POLITICS ASIDE;
Food fair in Cuba hailed as historic 'bridge'

BYLINE: CRAIG GILBERT cgilbert@journalsentinel.com

BODY:
Havana -- Wading through a bountiful hall of fried pork skins, buffalo jerky, corn flakes and Juicy Fruit, Fidel Castro extended a personal embrace Thursday to U.S. farmers and captains of commerce, opening the largest American trade show in Cuba in more than 40 years.

While the Bush administration wants no thaw with Castro, Cuban officials and American business people in Cuba hailed the five-day food fair as a historic "bridge" between the two nations.

Castro sampled a soy shake made by agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co., then signed a ceremonial contract to buy 25,000 tons of rice from the firm.

He talked livestock like a farmer, according to Minnesota breeder Ralph Kaehler. At one point, Castro admired two Wisconsin-bred sheep his government has purchased. "He's bigger than I am," he said of Sir Milwaukee, a 1 1/2-year-old, 200-pound ram.

The Cuban leader worked the room like a politician, leaving some U.S. exhibitors a bit star-struck.

"El Comandante," yelled one export manager to draw his attention as he passed by.

While the mutual good feeling in evidence between U.S. merchants and the Cuban government may gall some anti-Castro Americans, the growers and shippers and entrepreneurs in attendance view the politics of Cuba policy with either detachment or disdain.

"It's business we're interested in, and we can do business with anybody," said Eff Embree Jr., president of Am-Can Inc., an Illinois exporter of breeding stock.

Held in a large hall west of central Havana, the U.S. Food and Agribusiness Exhibition has generated controversy among Cuban-Americans, tantalized some U.S. business people, taken on great significance for Cuba's government and provoked discomfort in the U.S. State Department.

The sales at issue here are perfectly legal. Under a law enacted in 2000 under then-President Bill Clinton, Castro can buy U.S. food products -- but not on credit, only with cash. That has led to more than $100 million in sales.

The Bush administration says it won't "stand in the way" of that commerce but eyes it darkly as a precursor to the unraveling of America's 42-year-old economic embargo of the communist island.

All this contributed to the air of novelty and strange theater at the event, epitomized by the sight of Castro, dressed in a dark suit, sipping an Archer Daniels Midland vanilla-and-banana soy shake at a mock-up of a 1950s-style American diner. Or Cuban government buyers greeting mascots for Spam and California raisins while they sampled Egg Beaters, fruit cocktail and Skittles.

When Castro's older brother, Ramon, visited the U.S.-bred livestock, he paused by Sir Milwaukee to offer a discourse about modern Cuba, touting its "virgin beaches" and "prodigy children." He bragged about Cuba's class sizes, saying that in remote hills, the government will erect solar panels to power a classroom for a single pupil.

"I wonder, how much will that one student cost the revolution?" he proudly mused.

When breeder Kaehler told Ramon Castro how well his family has been treated in Cuba, Ramon Castro replied, "So stay here."

Attitudes on policies

Among the American vendors, two attitudes prevailed about the policy debate over whether it's right and proper to do business with a dictator who denies his people political rights and economic freedom.

One is that politics is not their concern.

"I'll leave politics to our politicians. If they say it's an open market and we can sell, we're happy to sell," said Stephen Romero, vice president for international sales for the McIlhenny Co., the maker of Tabasco sauce.

Some exhibitors preferred not to get into the policy debate at all.

The other is a more fully articulated critique of U.S. policy, especially the hypocrisy they perceive in shunning Cuba but trading with China, Vietnam and sundry other autocracies.

"I don't know what communism means anymore," said Sean Gnekow of the Gnekow Family Winery in California. "We don't like the Chinese communist government, but we trade with them."

Don Mason of the Iowa Corn Growers said the farmers he represents skew sharply Republican and conservative. But "the official arguments (against trade) don't wash very well with Iowa farmers."

Then there are apostles of globalization such as Allen Andreas, CEO of Archer Daniels Midland, which did more than $20 billion in international sales last year.

In an interview after his latest contract with Castro was ceremonially signed for the cameras, he described his company's outreach to Cuba as "humanitarian." U.S. food sales mean "a better diet at a lower cost" for Cubans, Andreas said. He also made the argument that trade fuels reform.

"We've always felt that opening trade with other countries will assist in opening the rights of citizens" in those countries, he said.

This was the fourth trip to Cuba for the Andreas, and the company has accounted for more than a third of the U.S. sales to Cuba under the 2000 law.

Cash and carry

One other argument the Bush administration has made against commerce with Cuba is the regime's billions in unpaid debts. State Department officials have warned business people repeatedly to be careful they aren't left holding the bag.

This hasn't deterred food exporters, who point out that current law makes that issue moot, since Castro must pay cash up front for what he buys.

In addition to more than 280 exhibitors, the trade show has drawn Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura and an international media entourage of more than 100.

Ventura, a few months from leaving office, was enjoying the attention, noting Wednesday that he has never been stared at as much as he was driving down Havana streets in a Mercedes. He advised Cuba to "open up" to capitalism ("I'm a product of it") and urged a gradual phase-out of the embargo.

Ventura helped open the trade show Thursday, saying he never dreamed he'd be on the island seeing the Cuban and American flags side by side. Like his own election, he said, it shows "anything can happen."

The media entourage includes a huge, Ventura-driven Minnesota contingent and a sizable farm press corps, as well. "AgriTalk," a national farm radio show that airs in 24 states, is broadcasting from the exhibition. Host Mike Adams said the issue of trade with Cuba has generated lots of discussion on his show.

"Most of our listeners see it as a market that should be open to them," Adams said. "There's certainly no support for Castro and his regime."

LOAD-DATE: September 27, 2002