Thomas Mott Osborne: “It seems to me that 42 years of trade embargoes with Cuba have not changed Cuban Government policies, have not changed…”

“It seems to me that 42 years of trade embargoes with Cuba have not changed Cuban Government policies, have not changed North Korea, Sudan, Libya, or Syria. Forty years ago U.S. controlled most of the ag commodities in the world. The embargo might have had some impact at that time. Today we have a global economy. Countries simply buy elsewhere if we have an embargo. It costs us market share. A 2002 Texas A&M study showed that Cuba trade restrictions costs U.S. agriculture $1.24 billion annually and $5 billion for ag and ag-related business. Reaching back into my somewhat vague and sordid past, it seems to me that if someone ran the same play for 43 years and it did not work, maybe they would try something different. So I would suggest that we might try that. Not asking to trade weapons, computer chips, petroleum or plutonium. We are simply saying that food and medicine does not jeopardize national security. It helps our country and our ag.”