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Judi Lynn

(160,211 posts)
Thu Jan 15, 2015, 01:42 PM Jan 2015

McCaskill to travel to Cuba to assess markets for Missouri agriculture

McCaskill to travel to Cuba to assess markets for Missouri agriculture
January 07, 2015 10:30 pm • By Chuck Raasch

WASHINGTON • Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., says she will travel to Cuba before the end of February to assess the markets for Missouri agriculture.

McCaskill told reporters Wednesday she had planned a trip before President Barack Obama’s announcement last month that he would take steps to normalize relations with the country. The U.S. has not had diplomatic relations with Cuba for more than 50 years, and trade embargoes have been in effect during that time.

McCaskill on Wednesday called Obama’s executive action “a move in the right direction.”

“The policy that has been in place for over five decades has not worked in terms of helping the people of Cuba,” she said. “From a selfish standpoint, it is terrific for Missouri agriculture.”

Her office later said McCaskill will pay her own way on a trip arranged through the nonprofit Center for Democracy in the Americas.

Its website says the center is “devoted to changing U.S. policy toward the countries of the Americas by basing our relations on mutual respect, fostering dialogue with those governments and movements with which U.S. policy is at odds, and recognizing positive trends in democracy and governance.”

More:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/gateway-to-dc/mccaskill-to-travel-to-cuba-to-assess-markets-for-missouri/article_b3f9ffc4-f62c-5ba2-89e6-7d5204dd3f80.html

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