Alabama panel wants travel ban lifted

The Alabama House Committee on Tourism and Travel on Wednesday approved a resolution urging the Bush administration to open up travel to Cuba -- specifically, travel from Alabama. The committee's chairman, Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow, said such an opening would mean millions in tourism dollars for the state. Agriculture Secretary Ron Sparks (in photo),  a longtime advocate of improved relations, said much of the benefit would come from cruise ships shuttling between Havana and Mobile, 600 nautical miles apart. The recommendation comes as Havana this week hosts its 28th International Tourism Fair. Alabama already trades with the island, selling Cuba cotton, soybeans, poultry, meat, and lumber, to the tune of $150 million a year. About one-third of U.S. exports to Cuba are from Alabama, according to an Auburn University study. In fact, the newspaper Granma is printed on newsprint made at three Alabama paper mills, Sparks says.
---Renato Pérez Pizarro.