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Brazil: Mariel investment aiming at post-embargo trade
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Brazilian government officials told National Security Advisor Gen. James L. Jones that Brazil’s $300 million investment in the expansion of a Cuban port only makes sense in a post-embargo scenario.
According to a cable sent by the U.S. embassy in September 2009 and published this week by Wikileaks, Jones talked with presidential foreign policy advisor Marco Aurelio García and his deputy, Ambassador Marcel Biato, as well as other Brazilian during an Aug. 4-5 visit to Brasilia last year.
“They noted that their plans to help Cuba construct a deep-water port at Mariel only make sense on the assumption that Cuba and the United States will eventually develop a trading relationship,” the cable said about the meeting with García and Biato.
Deepwater port at Mariel: Makes only sense in a post-embargo scenario
During a meeting at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana in January, Brazilian diplomats cited similar views by Cuban partners in the Mariel project.
“The Cubans involved in the Mariel Port project have said that the project is in preparation for the day when U.S.-Cuba economic relations normalize,” the economic counselor at the Interests Section quoted the Brazilians as saying.
At the meeting in Brasilia, the Brazilian officials also pressed Jones to consider ending U.S. sanctions against Cuba. According to the U.S. cable, García and Biato said that “Raúl Castro is more pragmatic and less ideological than Fidel, with a focus on getting short-term economic results. They see Cuba as taking a path similar to that of Vietnam under Raúl, whom they acknowledged was a transitional leader. Given that the United States has a relationship with Vietnam, Garcia said, there is no reason the United States can’t have a similar relationship with Cuba.”
According to the Brazilian officials, their support for Cuba and efforts to include the island in hemispheric forums “open additional space that Raúl needs to engage the United States.”
Apparently, Jones had expressed concern over Brazilian cooperation with Cuba.
An interesting Caribbean related example of how such funds can raise political questions comes in the form of the 2006 decision by the US Congress to stop Dubai ports buying a number of US port operations.
The company is now planning a US$250m investment at Mariel in Cuba that will involve the construction of a modern container facility that if the US embargo were to end, would become the principal port of entry for US goods.
Email This Post
Brazilian government officials told National Security Advisor Gen. James L. Jones that Brazil’s $300 million investment in the expansion of a Cuban port only makes sense in a post-embargo scenario.
According to a cable sent by the U.S. embassy in September 2009 and published this week by Wikileaks, Jones talked with presidential foreign policy advisor Marco Aurelio García and his deputy, Ambassador Marcel Biato, as well as other Brazilian during an Aug. 4-5 visit to Brasilia last year.
“They noted that their plans to help Cuba construct a deep-water port at Mariel only make sense on the assumption that Cuba and the United States will eventually develop a trading relationship,” the cable said about the meeting with García and Biato.
Deepwater port at Mariel: Makes only sense in a post-embargo scenario
During a meeting at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana in January, Brazilian diplomats cited similar views by Cuban partners in the Mariel project.
“The Cubans involved in the Mariel Port project have said that the project is in preparation for the day when U.S.-Cuba economic relations normalize,” the economic counselor at the Interests Section quoted the Brazilians as saying.
At the meeting in Brasilia, the Brazilian officials also pressed Jones to consider ending U.S. sanctions against Cuba. According to the U.S. cable, García and Biato said that “Raúl Castro is more pragmatic and less ideological than Fidel, with a focus on getting short-term economic results. They see Cuba as taking a path similar to that of Vietnam under Raúl, whom they acknowledged was a transitional leader. Given that the United States has a relationship with Vietnam, Garcia said, there is no reason the United States can’t have a similar relationship with Cuba.”
According to the Brazilian officials, their support for Cuba and efforts to include the island in hemispheric forums “open additional space that Raúl needs to engage the United States.”
Apparently, Jones had expressed concern over Brazilian cooperation with Cuba.
An interesting Caribbean related example of how such funds can raise political questions comes in the form of the 2006 decision by the US Congress to stop Dubai ports buying a number of US port operations.
The company is now planning a US$250m investment at Mariel in Cuba that will involve the construction of a modern container facility that if the US embargo were to end, would become the principal port of entry for US goods.
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