LA Gov Seals trade deal with Cuba

http://www.msnbc.com/id/7147701

HAVANA - Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco accomplished what she set out to do during a three-day visit to Cuba this week: bolster business ties with a burgeoning market just hours away from the Gulf state.

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The Louisiana state delegation signed four key agreements with Alimport, the Cuban government’s chief food importer, worth $15 million — some $5 million more than Alimport’s initial proposal to the Democratic governor.

The agreement included a $2 million pledge to buy 10 thousand tons of milled rice from Louisiana Rice Mill and 160 tons of powdered milk from the AnPro Trading company. Cuba also agreed to increase shipments through the Port of New Orleans.

Politics aside, trade the bottom line
Blanco’s trip was only the fourth by a U.S. governor to Cuba since the 1959 revolution. It came under heavy fire from some in her state’s Cuban-American community, who said it was a propaganda boost to Fidel Castro’s communist government.

Upon her arrival in Havana, Blanco tackled the detractors head-on. “We think Louisiana needs to be ... in the markets of the entire world. We believe Cuba brings value and we sho