Cuba increases purchases of U.S. food, crops.

Despite the virtually non-existent relations between the United States and Cuba, and the continuing U.S. sanctions against the island nation, Cuba likely will increase its purchases of U.S. food this year. Pedro Alvarez, head of Alimport, the government's food procurement enterprise, says that in the first eight months of 2004, Cuba will have purchased as much U.S.-origin food as it did in the whole previous year. Cuban purchases from what is now the nation's biggest food supplier were nearing the $300-million mark by the end of July, and are set to exceed $440 million during 2004, Alvarez said in an interview. That would represent at least a 25-percent increase over last year's purchases from U.S. producers.

Cuban purchases of U.S. food began their current rise following the partial U.S. relaxation of the more than 40-year-old economic embargo after a hurricane devastated the island in November 2001. Most of the purchases have been raw commodities such as wheat, corn and soybeans, as well as some poultry.

More recently, Cuban farmers have had to endure three consecutive years of extreme drought. "We're still suffering a drought of historic proportions," said Leandro Bermudez of the National Institute of Hydrological Resources. Cuba has purchased $20 million worth of powdered milk from U.S. commodities brokers, according to Alimport figures, but still too little to fill the gap created by a 20percent drop in domestic production. Vegetable and sugar-cane cultivation also have suffered from the drought.