Cuba after Castro

Whatever happened to Fidel Castro? It seems he was deathly ill for a while and now there is nothing in the news about him. I read this Business Week article about life after Castro and find that his death is still "imminent." Meanwhile, U.S. business interests suspect Fidel's brother Raul, five years younger at 75, is poised to expand U.S.-Cuban trade. Some members of Congress are anxious to give agricultural exports to Cuba a boost. Rep. Jerry Moran has introduced H.R. 1026, to "to facilitate the sale of United States agricultural products to Cuba, as authorized by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000."

Moran's bill seeks to clearly define the language from the 2000 legislation. In particular, the bill defines "payment of cash in advance" so as to make it more workable for export sales. Rather than being paid in advance of shipping agricultural products to Cuba, Moran's law would define the term this way:
"The term `payment of cash in advance' means, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the payment by the purchaser of an agricultural commodity or product and the receipt of such payment by the seller prior to--
`(i) the transfer of title of such commodity or product to the purchaser; and
`(ii) the release of control of such commodity or product to the purchaser.

The proposed law would also make it easier for Cuba deal directly with U.S. banks, rather than having to go through third party banks in other countries. The legislation reads:

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President may not restrict direct transfers from a Cuban financial institution to a United States financial institution executed in payment for a product authorized for sale under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 .

TK: I may be a dreamer, but I'm looking forward to the day when Sherri here at Vance books a flight to Havana for me for a convention in Cuba - perhaps a winter meeting of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.