Vermont Expands Ties With Cuba

Vermont Expands Ties With Cuba
Burlington, Vermont -- February 2, 2007

Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie arranged the sale of cows to Cuba in 2005. And now
Vermont is expanding relations with the communist country in another
way. In addition to cows, Vermont would send students to study in Cuba.

Michael Sherman, the academic dean at Burlington College, traveled to
Cuba with a local delegation in December. Burlington College has a
preliminary agreement with the University of Havana to start an
inter-American studies program.

"We feel here that we really need to know more about them and we really
need to be engaged with them," Sherman told Channel 3. "As you know,
Lieutenant Governor Dubie has already established a connection with Cuba
through the dairy industry. And so this, to us, remote area from here in
Vermont -- we've got a lot of close ties."

Burlington College has permission from the State Department to send
students to Cuba for academic purposes. College president Jane Sanders
says she expects to travel to Cuba this Spring to finalize the program,
which could begin by the Spring semester 2008. Students studying in
Havana would be required to be fluent in Spanish.

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