12-23-2005
Criticizing Maine for Cuba dealings is hypocritical
Last week, Maine Gov. John Baldacci returned from a trade mission to Cuba that resulted in an agreement by the Cuban government to purchase $20 million in products from Maine companies. This was the most recent of several trips abroad to trade Maine goods with other countries. In October, there was a mission to France; in 2004, to Germany and Italy; in 2003, to Ireland and the United Kingdom. Agreements were penned that, in total, brought $33.9 million in trade for Maine businesses.
Maine is certainly not alone. In October, for instance, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch held a trade mission to Germany, the Czech Republic and the Ukraine. With economies that rival that of many countries in the world, and with federal trade policies that trickle down slowly or not at all, more and more states are circumventing Washington altogether and striking deals on their own.
However, some people in Maine, including the Republican legislative leadership, draw the line at Baldacci’s decision to trade with Communist Cuba. Saying the decision undermines long-standing American foreign policy, Senate Minority Leader Paul Davis said last week, "It was not necessary for the governor to ... become a propaganda tool against our own government. It is not proper for the governor of Maine to be providing a brutal dictator with good publicity."
This logic is, simply, absurd. If we are going to talk about brutal dictatorships, let’s a take a look at China. This month alone, Amnesty International reports, at least four people died and others were injured after officers from the People’s Armed Police fired on a crowd in the Southern province of Guangdong over a land dispute. A week later, the family of an imprisoned human rights lawyer was denied visiting rights, because the man had apparently violated a "prison rule." Family members said the lawyer told them in March he had been beaten after asking for paper on which to write a letter to the central government, listing the names of people who had died after prison authorities forcibly relocated them.
And yet, America certainly does love to trade with China, now the fourth most vibrant economy in the world. The federal government will apparently overlook all manner of civil and human rights violations in order to get a piece of the action. In fact, the trade deficit with China is at such an all-time high that it has raised the serious concern of Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe. "Small-business owners in Maine and across our nation are fighting to remain competitive with countries such as China that flagrantly disregard fair trade practices. Congress has endured enough rhetoric and enough reports that have repeatedly failed to force China to honor its international trade obligations." She urges the Treasury Department to "get tough" with China, which she said "deliberately manipulates its currency at the expense of American manufacturing jobs."
Meanwhile, the same government that allows such trade disparities with one Communist country continues to beat up on Cuba. This week, the very same Treasury Department denied Cuba’s participation in the World Baseball Classic next spring. This is hypocrisy and hubris of the highest order. Cuba is a beleaguered, impoverished country, and we are no longer fighting the Cold War. If a poor state like Maine and a poor country like Cuba can strike a deal that is beneficial to the residents of both places, we say more power to them.
- Portsmouth Herald
Criticizing Maine for Cuba dealings is hypocritical
Last week, Maine Gov. John Baldacci returned from a trade mission to Cuba that resulted in an agreement by the Cuban government to purchase $20 million in products from Maine companies. This was the most recent of several trips abroad to trade Maine goods with other countries. In October, there was a mission to France; in 2004, to Germany and Italy; in 2003, to Ireland and the United Kingdom. Agreements were penned that, in total, brought $33.9 million in trade for Maine businesses.
Maine is certainly not alone. In October, for instance, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch held a trade mission to Germany, the Czech Republic and the Ukraine. With economies that rival that of many countries in the world, and with federal trade policies that trickle down slowly or not at all, more and more states are circumventing Washington altogether and striking deals on their own.
However, some people in Maine, including the Republican legislative leadership, draw the line at Baldacci’s decision to trade with Communist Cuba. Saying the decision undermines long-standing American foreign policy, Senate Minority Leader Paul Davis said last week, "It was not necessary for the governor to ... become a propaganda tool against our own government. It is not proper for the governor of Maine to be providing a brutal dictator with good publicity."
This logic is, simply, absurd. If we are going to talk about brutal dictatorships, let’s a take a look at China. This month alone, Amnesty International reports, at least four people died and others were injured after officers from the People’s Armed Police fired on a crowd in the Southern province of Guangdong over a land dispute. A week later, the family of an imprisoned human rights lawyer was denied visiting rights, because the man had apparently violated a "prison rule." Family members said the lawyer told them in March he had been beaten after asking for paper on which to write a letter to the central government, listing the names of people who had died after prison authorities forcibly relocated them.
And yet, America certainly does love to trade with China, now the fourth most vibrant economy in the world. The federal government will apparently overlook all manner of civil and human rights violations in order to get a piece of the action. In fact, the trade deficit with China is at such an all-time high that it has raised the serious concern of Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe. "Small-business owners in Maine and across our nation are fighting to remain competitive with countries such as China that flagrantly disregard fair trade practices. Congress has endured enough rhetoric and enough reports that have repeatedly failed to force China to honor its international trade obligations." She urges the Treasury Department to "get tough" with China, which she said "deliberately manipulates its currency at the expense of American manufacturing jobs."
Meanwhile, the same government that allows such trade disparities with one Communist country continues to beat up on Cuba. This week, the very same Treasury Department denied Cuba’s participation in the World Baseball Classic next spring. This is hypocrisy and hubris of the highest order. Cuba is a beleaguered, impoverished country, and we are no longer fighting the Cold War. If a poor state like Maine and a poor country like Cuba can strike a deal that is beneficial to the residents of both places, we say more power to them.
- Portsmouth Herald
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