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U.S. LEGISLATION ALLOWING FOR THE SALE OF FOOD AND MEDICINE
TO CUBA KILLED IN COMMITTEE
Washington, September 22(RHC)-- Right wing members of the U.S. House of Representatives have blocked legislative efforts to at least partially lift Washington's blockade against Cuba -- which would have allowed for the sale of food and medicine to the island.
A Senate bill permitting U.S. companies to sell food and medicine to Cuba -- while still keeping the rest of the blockade in place -- was approved earlier this summer by a vote of 70 to 28. However, to become law, the proposal was sent to a conference committee made up of members of the Senate and House of Representatives. It was during negotiations in the conference committee that the legislation was effectively killed.
According to press reports from Capitol Hill, opponents of ending the blockade on food and medicine -- particularly congressional representatives of Cuban origin -- attached a number of conditions to the proposed legislation, including political and economic changes on the island.
One of the sponsors of the bill to allow for the sale of food and Medicine to Cuba, New York Representative Jose Serrano, told reporters Wednesday that the conference committee's decision demonstrates the Political power that right wing Cuban-Americans in Miami still maintain. Serrano said that it was absurd and inhumane to deny food and medicine to people for political reasons.
Farmers in the United States, pharmaceutical companies and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have been promoting the partial lifting of Washington's economic blockade, arguing that the geographical proximity of Cuba makes it a logical market for U.S. products.
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