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U.S.
entrepreneurs ratify meeting
with Cuban authorities
WASHINGTON.—
Despite the economic embargo (blockade) on Cuba,
U.S. businesspeople affirmed yesterday, September 11
that they are to have a meeting with the island’s
authorities in order to boost tourism, a potential
billion-dollar market.
The
meeting, scheduled for Cancún, Mexico from October
16-18, will be the first since Washington prohibited
travel to Cuba as part of the economic blockade
aimed at removing President Fidel Castro from power.
The
announcement of the meeting came three days after
the U.S. House of Representatives approved an
amendment seeking to nullify the ban on travel to
Cuba. The White House has threatened to veto the
initiative.
At
present, only certain U.S. citizens are allowed to
visit Cuba, including journalists, Congress members
and farmers. However, many others enter the island
illegally via Mexico and Canada.
Tourism
is one of the main sources of income for the
Caribbean island.
Ibrahim
Ferradaz, Cuba’s minister of tourism, and at least
20 representatives and specialists from the tourism
industry are to attend the meeting, which has the
backing of various U.S. Congress members. These
include Republican Senator Jeff Flake and his
Democrat colleague William Delahunt, co-authors of
the amendments approved this week by the House of
Representatives.
International
Policy Center research indicates that travel to Cuba
is a business that could generate some $1 billion
per year, $ 250 million of which could be earned by
U.S. airlines.
The
Center also affirms that if travel restrictions were
lifted then some 2.8 million U.S. citizens would
visit Cuba and visits by Cubans resident in the
United States would increase by 33%. (Reuters).
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