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Poll: US Farmers Support End to Cuba Embargo
A Pew Research poll conducted in January shows that more than 60 percent of Americans support President Obama’s decision in December to establish full diplomatic relations with Cuba - and move towards ending the economic embargo in place since the Kennedy Administration in the 1960’s. Among the strongest supporters for ending the embargo are American farmers, who see Cuba as a relatively new market for exports.
The planting season is still several months away for Illinois farmer Thomas Marten, but he’s excited about the future… a future that could see more of his products available to the once off-limits island nation of Cuba.
“Here on our farm, we actually grow a lot of specialty corn, a lot of non-GMO and hard endosperm corn, which goes almost exclusively into export markets. So we would see a benefit for our own operation in additional exports to Cuba," said Marten.
Lifting the embargo, Marten says, could help him increase his profits by 15 percent.
Sending his products to Cuba - which imports about 80 percent of its food - would have been unheard of for his father.
“The entire time my father and my uncles would have been farming we’ve actually had an embargo in place. It’s been over 54 years that we’ve had that market not open to us in the United States," said Marten.
Marten is among a group of farmers pushing lawmakers to lift the embargo.
But even before President Obama announced the opening to Cuba, products from Illinois fields were already reaching the Cuban people. Mark Albertson is with the Illinois Soybean Association.
“Agriculture’s been exempt from the trade embargo thanks to the Trade Sanctions and Reform Act under President Clinton. But we still have to jump through a lot of hoops," said Albertson.
One of the hoops is that the U.S. can nott extend credit to Cuba. The Cubans have to pay in cash, up front.
“And that makes us very un-competitive, and we’ve seen a dramatic decline in our ag exports to Cuba in recent years," said Albertson.
“We feel that economic development is freedom," said Paul Johnson.
Johnson is the Vice Chair of the U.S. Agricultural Coalition for Cuba.
“What we do is represent U.S. agriculture in our trade relations with Cuba," he said.
Johnson says by ending the embargo and extending credit to Cuba, the United States becomes more competitive - especially because of its proximity to the island.
“I think businesses are excited about those opportunities," he said.
So excited in fact that spaces on a trip to Cuba Johnson is leading filled up quickly.
Farmer Thomas Marten is one of about 75 agriculture and business representatives traveling with Johnson to the island nation in March. It will be Marten’s second trip to Cuba, and while he is optimistic about future trade, he is also realistic about the challenges.
“There’s definitely a lot of issues we have to work through with human rights. As both a farmer and a Catholic, I definitely saw that there are a lot of churches closed there, and that’s something that definitely concerns me in Cuba - their human rights record. That said, 54 years of our embargo has done very, very little in improving the human rights conditions in Cuba," he said.
In his State of the Union Address, President Obama called on Congress to begin the work of ending the embargo, and Marten hopes when it comes time to drive his corn and soy to grain elevators next year, more of it will eventually find its way to Cuba.
詞匯解析
weaken
難度：3星常用詞匯，屬常用6000詞
英漢解釋
v.使 ... 弱，削弱； 變?nèi)酰?弄淡
參考例句
用作動(dòng)詞 (v.)
Hansen says if the Gulf stream were to weaken it could affect marine life.
韓森說(shuō)，如果灣流太弱，會(huì)影響海洋生命。
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forecast
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
n.預(yù)測(cè)；預(yù)報(bào)
v.預(yù)測(cè)
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
Despite the good weather forecast, the next morning was as wet as ever.
盡管預(yù)報(bào)稱天氣很好，但次日上午仍陰雨綿綿。
用作動(dòng)詞 (v.)
Next year's growth rate is forecast at just 1%.
據(jù)預(yù)測(cè),第二年的增長(zhǎng)率僅僅只有1%25。
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voyage
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
n.航行；旅程
v.航行；旅行
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
This is the virgin voyage of the ship.
這是這艘船的處女航。
用作動(dòng)詞 (v.)
My dream is to voyage around the world in a hot air balloon.
我的夢(mèng)想是乘著熱氣球周游世界。
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volcano
難度：3星常用詞匯，屬常用6000詞
英漢解釋
n.火山
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
Vesuvius is an active volcano.
維蘇威山是一座活火山。
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technique
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
n.技術(shù)；技巧；技能
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
The workers are trying to apply modern techniques to this traditional craft.
工人們?cè)噲D將現(xiàn)代技術(shù)用于這項(xiàng)傳統(tǒng)工業(yè)。
He displayed a flawless technique in the competition.
他在競(jìng)賽中顯示出了精湛的技藝。
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substance
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
n.實(shí)質(zhì)；物質(zhì)；財(cái)產(chǎn)；內(nèi)容；重要性
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
Later he became a man of substance.
后來(lái)，他成為頗具資產(chǎn)的人。
This argument has some substance.
這項(xiàng)爭(zhēng)論具有一定的重要性。
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ultimately
難度：2星擴(kuò)展詞匯，屬常用10000詞
英漢解釋
adv.最后；最終
參考例句
用作副詞 (adv.)
Every value they created ultimately redounded to his boss.
他們創(chuàng)造的價(jià)值最后全進(jìn)了他們老板的腰包。
All wealth comes ultimately from human labor.
一切財(cái)富歸根到底來(lái)源於人類的勞動(dòng)。
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