http://www.dailystarnews.com/200111/19/n1111905.htm#BODY17
AFP, Havana
For the fist time since the United States imposed a trade embargo four decades ago, the two countries are to trade openly in a deal aimed at helping the communist nation recover from the ravages of a powerful hurricane. President Fidel Castro himself told Cubans of the unprecedented 30-million-dollar deal, which the US State Department had previously announced in Washington.
"We are ready, just for this once, to acquire certain quantities of food and medicine from the United States, paying them in cash," the communist leader said late Friday.
A 1993 exemption to the US embargo allows the United States to export medicine to Cuba, and another clause in effect since last year clears sales of food to the Communist-run island, as long as Cuba pays in cash.
Because Cuban ships are barred from entering US ports, the US administration has suggested sending American vessels.
"We suggested that ships from third countries should fetch the goods, without excluding US ships," Castro said.
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