AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — As Fidel Castro worked his way through a line of American agricultural officials in Havana last summer, he complimented a visitor on his excellent Spanish.
Diego Gimenez smiled. He didn’t tell the Cuban dictator that he learned the language growing up there — or that he was a prisoner of war during his last visit to the island.
Mr. Gimenez, who was captured following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion 43 years ago yesterday, doesn’t hold grudges, even against the man who held him captive for almost two years.
Now, having failed to open Cuba to democracy as a soldier, he sees trade as the way to help his countrymen.
Since Congress approved limited exports of food and medicine to Cuba four years ago, 45 states have sought to take advantage of a new market for American products, Mr. Gimenez says.
“I’m concerned with the Cuban people, basically,” he said. “And I will do everything possible so that the 55 percent (of Cubans) that don’t have access to dollars will be able in the near future to be able to buy products.”
Not everyone agrees. Many Cuban-Americans feel the embargo should stay in place until Mr. Castro leaves power, citing the United Nations’ continuing criticisms of Castro’s human rights record and Cuba’s inclusion on the State Department list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
Joe Garcia, executive director of the Cuban-American National Foundation in Miami, said the embargo alone won’t get rid of Mr. Castro, but it limits the regime’s ability to get U.S. taxpayer credits to finance itself.
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