News from The Associated Press
Pope played crucial role in US-Cuba rapprochement
Dec 17, 4:56 PM EST
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The crucial role played by Pope Francis in bringing Cuba and the United States together signals that history's first Latin American pope has no qualms about putting the Holy See on the front lines of diplomacy, especially for a cause it has long championed.
The Vatican said Wednesday that Francis wrote to President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro in recent months and invited them to resolve their differences over humanitarian issues, including prisoners.
In addition, the Vatican hosted U.S. and Cuban delegations in October "and provided its good offices to facilitate a constructive dialogue on delicate matters, resulting in solutions acceptable to both parties," the Vatican said.
US-Cuba thaw could benefit farmers, energy and travel firms
Dec 17, 5:37 PM EST
News from The Associated Press
By PAUL WISEMAN
AP Economics Reporter
"We've been positioning ourselves for this day for many years," says Erik Herzfeld, co-portfolio manager of the Herzfeld Caribbean Basin fund, which has been investing in "the cruise lines, infrastructure (companies), any company that we think will eventually have a role in Cuba." The fund rose $1.97, or 28.9 percent, to $8.78 on Wednesday.
Gary Hufbauer and Barbara Kotschwar of the Peterson Institute for International Economics estimate that exports of U.S. goods to Cuba could reach $4.3 billion a year, compared to less than $360 million last year. And Cuban merchandise imports to the U.S. could go to $5.8 billion a year from nothing now.
Before the Cuban revolution, U.S. farmers did big business with Cuba, exporting beans, rice and other commodities. The U.S. now exports limited amounts of farm products.
"It's an enormous rice market," says Dwight Roberts, CEO of the U.S. Rice Producers Association. Roberts believes Cubans eventually could import the 400,000 tons of U.S. rice they consumed before Castro's Communist revolution.
SEARCHING FOR OIL
The waters off the island's northern coast are believed to contain oil. But international oil companies have been reluctant to explore for there for fear of angering the United States. The Spanish oil company Repsol drilled off shore in 2012 but did not find oil and gave up.
Sarah Ladislaw, director of the energy and national security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says promising drilling locations remain. "There is lots more exploration people want to do," she says.
"It's the beginning," says Teo Babun, a Miami consultant.
