August 15, 2000
Riceland Foods Inc. has donated a shipment of U.S. rice to Cuba as a humanitarian gift to the Cuban people.
The shipment arrived in Havana in late July
and is being distributed to people in the eastern province of Guantanamo where
severe drought has sharply reduced food supplies.
The shipment will provide approximately 400,000 standard servings of
cooked, long grain rice.
Distribution
of the rice is being managed by Caritas Cubana, a Cuban charity associated with
Catholic Relief Services. The
Riceland Rice is packaged in three-pound, English/Spanish bilingual bags, which
Riceland uses to market rice in the U.S. and Latin America.
The shipment was made under a license granted
to Riceland by the U.S. Department of Commerce for the specific purpose of
providing a food contribution to Cuban people.
The shipment was transshipped across Mexico and exported from the port of
Tampico to Havana.
Richard E. Bell, Riceland's president and
chief executive officer, says the humanitarian gift is being made as an
expression of respect for the needy people of Cuba.
- m o r e -
Bell
says that Riceland has spent the past year building relationships with people in
Cuba who he believes will be helpful to Riceland when the U.S. Government
finally decides to lift the embargo on U.S. goods to Cuba.
In doing so, Bell says, Riceland has come to
admire the Cuban people for their determination and hopeful spirit. He said, "The least we can do is to provide food when
they are in need of it."
"We at Riceland look forward to the time
when we have normal commercial relations with Cuba," Bell said.
"When this happens, we can have a great future for our two countries
by working together."
Terry
Harris, Riceland vice president for Latin America, was in Cuba this past week,
consulting with Caritas Cubana regarding distribution of the rice provided by
Riceland.
Bell
said that he is hopeful that Riceland will be able to make additional rice
shipments to Cuba during the current drought.
He believes there are a number of firms associated with Riceland that are
willing to help in this effort.
# # #
(NOTE: A U.S. standard serving
of rice as defined by FDA is one-fourth cup dry or three-fourths cup cooked.
It provides 12 percent of the carbohydrates needed in a daily diet of
2,000 calories.)
PHOTO CUTLINES:
1.
View of opened container with
rice, people in foreground.
Terry
Harris (right), Riceland vice president for Latin America, explains quality
specifications for Riceland Rice to a Cuban customs official as the container of
U.S. rice is opened in Havana for inspection.
Riceland officials hope that additional shipments of U.S. rice will be
made during the current drought in Cuba.
2.
View of office with two
ladies, one man, Cuban map.
Maritza Sanchez (left), director of Caritas Cubana, and Rosario Lo Giudice, Caritas logistics manager, identify the destination in Guantanamo Province of a shipment of rice that Riceland donated to the charity, to Terry Harris, Riceland vice president for Latin America. The rice will be used in feeding kitchens on the eastern end of Cuba where drought is reducing food supplies.
Good intentions are many times violated by the Cuban government as they take donations and sell them to turists. The best thing to do is not to give a hungry man "fish", but to teach him how to fish. Cubans know how to fish, but the government does not give them the freedom to do so. Don't deal with the enemy!