Ventura urges Cuban trade embargo be dropped

Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura smokes a Cuban cigar while walking outside the Hotel Nacional in Havana, Cuba.

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HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) -- Jesse Ventura said Thursday the United States should drop its 40-year trade embargo on Cuba.

"How can we switch them to capitalism if we don't work with them?" the governor of Minnesota told CNN at a trade fair in the Cuban capital. "Then the evolution could well take place, you don't know."

The fact that the Cuban government is communist need not be an obstacle to closer trade relations, said Ventura, who was attending the event as a booster for Minnesota products, which were on display.

Asked if he wanted President Bush to lift the embargo, Ventura said, "In the long run, it's what I'd like to see happen."

He said Cuban President Fidel Castro came by the Minnesota display, but the two had not met one-on-one.

Ventura dismissed critics who have accused him of giving aid and comfort to the enemy by visiting the island nation. "I'm a capitalist from the word 'go,'" he said. "Anyone who's ever looked at my career knows I believe in capitalism."

Still, he said, "at age 51, I like having friends better than I do enemies."

The former Navy SEAL noted that 58,000 Americans were killed in Vietnam, "and yet we have no problem today trading with Vietnam."

He also urged Americans to be skeptical of reports by some U.S. government officials that the Cuban government is so short of cash it will not pay companies to trade with the island.

"Let's remember the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a fraud, and our government told us that was real," he said about the event that sparked U.S. military involvement in Vietnam during the 1960s.

In the August/September issue of Cigar Aficionado, the governor was quoted as saying, "I hate embargoes. Sure, partly because I'd love to have easy access to Cuban cigars, but mostly because embargoes won't work."

Ventura dismissed the suggestion that his desire for Cuban cigars might be coloring his feelings about the embargo. "My favorite cigar right now is made in the Dominican Republic," he said.

Last month, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush criticized Ventura for his plan to attend the exposition.

"While I don't expect you to cancel your trip, I strongly believe doing so would be the right thing to do," the governor said in a letter to Ventura. "I encourage you to consider other options as you look for opportunities to expand international trade for your state."

The U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition is scheduled to end September 30.

Exhibit organizers predicted 18,000 to 20,000 people will attend the expo and more than 150 companies, organizations and government offices from 30 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico would participate.

The embargo on U.S. trade with the communist nation was altered by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000. It authorized the export of food and agricultural products from the United States to Cuba.

Since last December, U.S.-based companies have sold to Cuba-based entities $109 million worth of agricultural and food products, the conference organizers said.

This year, Cuba ranks 54th of 180 countries in terms of agricultural product purchases from United States-based companies, up from 138th last year and 180th in 2000, the organizers added.

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