Editorials

An unusual fact exists be-tween our nation and the small island nation to our south, a fact this space has noted before. American trade with Cuba has increased despite the trade embargo that's existed since the United States broke diplomatic relations with that country in 1961.

Two of the biggest trade items are poultry and utility poles.

Do you know where 50 percent of the poultry and 90 percent of the utility poles that are exported to Cuba come from?

Alabama.

Thus, it makes perfect sense for the Alabama House Committee on Tourism and Travel to pass a resolution urging the state's congressional delegation to press the Bush administration to remove the "outdated and unnecessary" travel and trade restrictions between our country and Cuba.

Historically, that island nation has been our close friend. Mobile and Havana are sister cities. Once out of Mobile Bay, a ship loaded with Alabama goods can be in Cuban waters in less than 48 hours. For years the wharfs of Mobile rang with the lilt of Spanish spoken with a Cuban accent. It was a profitable connection — economically and culturally — and it should be restored.

Speculation is that it will take another president to do the job. The south Florida vote is too critical to both parties for either to risk alienating the Cuban expatriate vote. However, that vote is aging, and among younger Cuban-Americans the anti-Castro passion has lost much of its fire.

Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industry Ron Sparks has gone the extra mile (and taken trips to the island) in order to put Alabama in a good position to make the most of the embargo's end. In addition to becoming the export center (and import destination) for trade with Cuba, Mobile is poised to become the point of departure for cruise ships bound for Havana. Cuba has become a popular vacation spot for people from other countries, and Americans should be allowed to visit Alabama, depart from Mobile, and enjoy the same.

All of which is to say that there are economic and cultural reasons that the embargo should not be dropped. This is one of the last vestiges of a Cold War policy that in the long run failed. The Cuban people will have a better chance for freedom in a relationship with the United States and Alabama than they will have if they remain isolated.

And that relationship will be good for us as well.