Left I on the News

Gotta' love the power of the dollar. Alabama is not exactly known as a left-wing state. Nevertheless, this just in:

The Alabama state congress has approved a resolution urging the U.S. Congress to annul all trade, financial and travel restrictions related to Cuba.

A second resolution passed by Alabama’s congress expressed thanks to Alimport’s Alvarez for his efforts toward normalizing bilateral relations.

The resolutions read out by [Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron] Sparks were presented by nine legislators who traveled to Cuba together with the agriculture commissioner.

Of course the dollar is behind this development:

The Alabama commissioner added that the southern state’s trade relations with Cuba have been "extremely important to the farmers of Alabama," who have sold $150 million worth of goods.

Sparks also said that the trade has been an important boost for port activities, and that it "ensures" the maintenance of 467,000 jobs in the agricultural sector, according to the AFP.

Be that as it may, the Alabama legislators could have easily confined their resolution to just trade issues, without including financial and travel restrictions as well. I have to believe that this development has something to do with the presumably favorable impression that those nine legislators formed about Cuba when they travelled there. Making sure that more Americans don't form favorable impressions of Cuba is without question one of the major reasons the U.S. continues to maintain those travel restriction, through Republican and Democratic administrations alike.