Cuba, trade policies faulted

Congressman says U.S. positions no help to farmers

? U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran criticized the Bush administration Monday over Cuba policy and trade negotiations involving developing nations’ demand for lower agricultural subsidies.

Moran said the United States should give up on trying to change the government in Cuba, noting that four decades of efforts to weaken dictator Fidel Castro have failed to remove him from power.

On trade, Moran said American negotiators made a mistake by siding with European negotiators during last month’s World Trade Organization meeting in discussions over agricultural subsidies. Developing nations want wealthier nations to eliminate subsidies for their farmers, so that farmers in poor nations can better compete.

Moran said Europe’s subsidies to its farmers were much higher than the United States’ subsidies to its farmers. The U.S. should join with developing nations to pressure Europe to decrease its subsidies, Moran said.

The Republican congressman represents the largely rural 1st District, which covers the western half of the state and north-central Kansas. On Monday he was in Topeka to attend the League of Kansas Municipalities’ annual convention.

Moran has been a strong supporter of easing economic sanctions on Cuba and pushed legislation in 2001 that allowed Cuba to purchase American food, agricultural products and medical supplies for cash.

“For 40 years, we’ve tried to change the Castro government,” Moran said in a brief interview. “It seems to me we ought to be trying something different.”

Last week, President Bush promised to tighten enforcement of the trade embargo on Cuba and announced he had appointed a commission to move Cuba toward democracy when Castro, who has ruled since 1959, leaves power.

“I think unilateral sanctions, particularly when it comes to agricultural products, are not successful, don’t work, don’t make a difference,” Moran said.

However, Moran held out little hope of a change in U.S. policy. He noted that Bush is playing to thousands of Cuban exiles in Florida and that Castro’s suppression of dissidents has “made it very difficult for us to go beyond where we are today.”

“I still believe that we’re better off trading with the Cubans, but politically, particularly with the power of the electorate in Florida, this issue is probably not going to advance much further,” Moran said.

As for the WTO negotiations last month in Cancun, Mexico, Moran said developing nations’ farmers will be better off “the sooner we can level the playing field for all counties.”

“The greatest offender of this policy of subsidies to agriculture is Europe, so we can’t unilaterally walk away from the way we subsidize agriculture,” he said. “I think we probably made a tactical or strategical error in siding with Europe at Cancun.”