Travis Jones meets Fidel Castro [View All]

[Osolomia]

Thursday, February 19, 2004
Travis Jones meets Fidel Castro
By Rocky Wilson
of the East Oregonian


Cuban President Fidel Castro (right) shook hands with Lostine’s Travis Jones (left) who was in the West Indies country on a trip to promote trade between Cuba and the state of Idaho.

Travis Jones of Lostine, an agriculture and transportation legislative assistant for U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was in Cuba within the past week helping to establish a $10 million trade agreement between the island country and the state of Idaho. He shook hands with Cuban President Fidel Castro and met with Foreign Minister Felipe Perez and the President of the National Assembly Ricardo Alarcon during his Feb. 6-9 stay in the island nation.

Jones was traveling with Sen. Craig, Idaho Congressman C.L. “Butch” Otter, three other congressional staff, agriculture and crop producers from Idaho, and representatives from the non profit Alliance for Responsible Cuban Policy based in Washington, D.C. – 29 persons in all.

A memorandum of understanding was drafted committing Cuba to the purchase of $10 million worth of cattle, dairy (dry milk products), onions, seed potatoes, beans and grains (wheat and barley) within the next year. It is hoped that an accompanying order of $20 million worth of goods will follow in 2005, said Jones.

... Jones said that the delegation shook hands with the Cuban president then sat down for a three and a half hour discussion primarily directed between the Cuban leaders, Sen. Craig and Rep. Otter. Craig’s wife, a nutritionist, also participated in the conversation. Though English was the common language, Castro and his trade chairman worked with translators.

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