Mitch Perry
Ron Christaldi, chairman of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, said Monday that in 2013, a half-dozen members of the chamber visited Vice President Joe Biden and other White House officials to discuss the potential for business with Cuba.
“They asked me about what the business community wanted and were we ready to take advantage of those opportunities,” he told an audience in a Tampa Airport Marriott Hotel ballroom. “There’s 17 million people in Cuba. That’s a pretty big market.”
Christaldi said he realized when he saw President Obama address the nation in December about normalizing relations with Cuba that local officials in Tampa had definitely affected the leader’s decision. “That trip that we made to the White House … had an impact on foreign policy. Everyone in this room has that opportunity. Together we’re a strong voice, and together we can impact what is happening.”
It’s certainly not a stretch to say that there’s not a city in the U.S. more collectively enthused about Obama’s diplomatic breakthrough with the communist island than Tampa, which has maintained ties to the island nation going back more than 100 years.
The Chamber has endorsed bringing a Cuban consulate to Tampa, and will be taking another delegation to the island in May.
The Chamber, Tampa International Airport and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor organized Monday’s forum on Cuba. The airport has been an enthusiastic partner championing outreach to Cuba since 2011, after the president added Tampa to the list of airports that could begin round-trip passenger service to the island.
Tampa International Airport CEO Joe Lopano said that prior to Obama’s announcement, a website that the airport created to generate interest in those trips — GoToCuba.org — received about 50 visitors a day. Now, he said, it averages more than 850 a day. “And we hope to establish Tampa as the country’s best gateway.”
Although the diplomatic negotiations have gone relatively slowly since the big announcement, officials with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Department of the Treasury appeared on a panel to answer audience question.
Those officials emphasized that while the travel policies that went into effect in January now make it easier than at any previous time for an American to travel to Cuba, tourism is still banned by the economic embargo. Any U.S. citizen wishing to visit Cuba for one of 12 purposes may now do so without having to apply for a license on a case-by-case basis. The 12 categories of legal travel to Cuba include visits to close relatives, academic programs for which students receive credits, professional research, journalistic or religious activities, and participation in public performances or sports competitions.
“As I’m sure you’re all aware, we can’t suspend or terminate the embargo,” said Jennifer Hershfang, assistant chief counsel with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). “I think that everybody would feel comfortable if we were close to that. But that’s the ultimate and final edge that we can go.”
Some questions were quite simple. Tampa accountant and Chamber official Jose Valiente will be part of the Chamber’s trip this coming May. He wanted to know whether he could use a credit card on the trip.
“Yes, credit cards are authorized,” said Davin Blackborow, assistant director for licensing with the OFAC. “There’s a practical question about whether the infrastructure supports using those credit cards and whether the U.S. banks are set up to handle those transactions. And that’s something I can’t answer.”
Tessie Aral, CEO of ABC Charters, a company that has been flying Tampa residents and others to Cuba for years, said American banks don’t understand general licenses for people to travel to Cuba. “I don’t believe the banking system understands the changes that (the) wonderful Obama administration has done.”
Although virtually everyone in attendance appeared eager to have trade and travel relaxed with Cuba, critics of the Castro government made themselves known.
Tampa lawyer Pedro Fuentes-Cid was jailed 16 years for activism in Cuba.
“I must tell you there is a great worry among Cuban-Americans here in the U.S, and inside Cuba. Not enough attention has been paid to the human rights abuses in Castro,” he said, sobering those who wonder why the Obama administration’s moves haven’t met with universal love across the country.
“Talk to the people that are out on the streets,” he told officials. “Talk to them. Get their opinions. They matter. They are the people.”
“We really appreciate those comments,” said Matthew Borman, deputy assistant secretary, Bureau of Industry and Security at the Department of Commerce. While saying the issue is something that a State Department official is better prepared to answer, Borman said, “I know that human rights is still a very important issue for the government.”
“Make no mistake. The Cuban government is nowhere near where it needs to be when it comes to human rights,” Castor said. “The policy of isolation and the embargo over 50 years never changed that situation, so we’ve gotta change something new.”
Commerce Department Secretary Penny Pritzker started the forum, saying Obama’s new policy “is designed to help Cuban citizens become more connected to the world outside their shores and improve their standard of living. Gradually, our actions should give all Cubans an opportunity for greater economic independence. “
U.S. and Cuban officials are to meet a fourth time since the diplomatic breakthrough in December to discuss human rights issues and telecommunications policies. Obama has said he hopes the two countries can reopen embassies in each other’s capitals before the Summit of the Americas in Panama next month.
