The Jersey Journal from Jersey City, New Jersey • 39

The Jersey Journal Tuesday March 7 2000 Section Business Watch Cuban Americans doing business in Cuba life MONEY HEALTH TOMORROW: itness success stories ib By Juan 0 Tamayo Knight Ridder News Service The arrest of alleged spy Mariano aget has cast a spotlight on a small but growing phenomenon Cuban Ameri cans who are quietly seeking or doing business with a communist gov ernment they publicly abhor So many Miami exiles are said to have bought apartments in one neigh borhood of Varadero beach re sort in violation of the US trade em bargo that the area is now jokingly called Cuban Americans have boasted of selling hotel supplies food clothes and computers to Havana Others are said to be brokering oil deals for Havana and trying to establish ice cream and shoe factories in Cuba BI reports show that aget and New York businessman Pedro ont both Cuban born sons of pre Castro army officers were partners in a lori da firm America Cuba established with the intention of doing business in Cuba Even in Little Havana occa sional meetings between Cuban diplo mats and exiles interested in doing busi ness on the island have drawn up to 80 participants at a time witnesses say As the US Cuban community has grown younger and less driven by anti Castro politics such contacts reflect the rising interest among Cuban Americans in positioning themselves to do business with Cuba certainly after the embar go and President idel Castro are gone but often even before the past three years I have seen a steady increase in Cuban Americans visiting Cuba to discuss commercial said John Kavulich di rector of the New York based US Cuba Trade and Economic Council Such contacts and deals remain swaddled in secrecy partly because many are illegal and partly because of fears among the business people that other exiles will brand them as collabo rators with communist govern ment my name in the newspaper to day and get death threats tomor said one Cuban born businessman in Miami even though his contacts with Havana are legal licensed by the US Treasury Department But tiie ties are clearly growing be cause they appeal to both the Cuban government and Cuban Americans for different reasons according to several knowledgeable US and Cuban govern ment officials and business people Cuban diplomats in the United States regularly try to cultivate Cuban American investors in hopes of boosting the credibility of the US ahti embargo lobby and driving a wedge between mod erate and hard line exiles Cuban American business people es pecially the young believe for their part that they are uniquely qualified by lan guage family ties and culture to take ad vantage of tentative opening to private enterprise who grew up in the United States have the same deep down passions that their parents had That leads to tolerance and that leads to said Keith Prager a retired US Customs official who headed the Miami unit that investigates embargo violations Just how many Cuban Americans are doing business with Cuba is uncer tain partly because most are doing so in violation of the trade embargo and part ly because of exaggerations by both sides P0UT1AX publisher and baseball writer Nick Acocella works out of his home in Hoboken HARDBALL POLITICS Journal photo by Ellie Markovitch Hoboken baseball writer publishes political newsletter By Laurence Arnold Associated Press writer WASHINGTON Nick passion is hardball practiced by Willie Mays or Christie Whitman An author of 13 baseball books Acocel la now follows the averages of hard hitters like the New Jersey governor and other politicians for readers of his weekly newsletter Politifax And he maintains that Garden State politics and the na tional pastime have much in common the two best spectator sports in Amer he says are both incomprehensible to the outsider Did you ever try to explain baseball to a European? They look at you like crazy Try and explain New Jersey politics to Acocella 56 knocks out his fotfr page newslet ter each week from his home office in Hoboken He then transmits it to a mainframe computer in Cali fornia which then it to political con noisseurs in New Jersey and Washington The newsletter is a weekly mix of news and analysis humor and rumor Acocella chronicled the early 1999 trips to Tex as by delegations of Republican leaders to pledge their support for George Bush for president He wrote that decision to abandon her Senate candidacy credence to the per sistent rumors that it was her husband who thought a Senate run was a great idea and that she was uncomfortable with it from the He began by focusing on statewide politics but has increasingly plucked nuggets from towns and counties He recently wrote about Westfield Councilman Neil Sullivan missing an opportunity to appear on the television show Wants to Be a MU because his political opponent would not waive his right to equal time on the network Acocella was in a way born into politics He entered the world at Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital the Jersey City hospital built by legend ary Democratic boss rank Hague and named for hismother As a baseball fan growing up in West New York Acocella rooted for the New York Yankees but also admired Willie Mays who played for his favorite team the New York Giants Beginning in 1970 he wrote or co wrote 13 books on baseball including Ball a history of every Major League team active and de funct He wrote travel pieces for and res taurant reviews for airline magazines See BASEB ALL Page B4 ADVERTISEMENT matters require the skill AND ASSOCIATES and experience of a Lt 'And 1 '4 Jersey Supreme Court As A' L' Civil THal Lawyer Serious personal injury and wrongful death 5 HelpingNegligencVictims And amilies Recover Damages In State And ederal Courts Of New Jersey New York or 25 Years Certified Civil Trial Lawyer ih iiiiimiiiiiim s' 408 SUMMIT AVE JERSEY CITY National Board Of Trial Advocacy Artii A a I it fl I I I I WWMrt Specialized Ia MMES.