Two container ships loaded with US agricultural products have made the 100-mile sea trip from the United States to Cuba, marking the first break in the US trade embargo imposed on the communist-ruled island since 1963.
The Liberian-registered M.V. Express carrying 500 tonnes of US-produced frozen chicken steamed into Havana Bay on Sunday, followed by a Mexican freighter, the M.V. Ikan Mazatlan, with 20,400 tonnes of American corn.
The sales were the first permitted under a law passed by the US Congress a year ago and could mark the beginning of the end of the American policy of isolating Cuba to force political change.
When the law, which exempts food, medicine and humanitarian aid from the embargo, was enacted a year ago, President Castro pledged not to buy "a single grain of US rice or aspirin" as the US still discriminated against Cuba by prohibiting private and government financing, as well as the import of Cuban products.
However, the veteran Cuban leader changed his mind after the Caribbean island was devastated by Hurricane Michelle in November, and the United Nations warned about food shortages in the next four months.
More American cargo ships are expected to sail into Havana Bay in the coming weeks as US companies fulfil about $30 million (€33 million) in contracts for 200,000 tonnes of wheat, corn, soybeans, rice and chicken.
Cuba lost its main economic lifeline when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and Washington continues to ensure that it is denied access to funds from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The shipments at the weekend undermine the US embargo and could consign to history the 1966 Helms-Burton Act aimed at tightening the embargo by threatening that EU and Canadian businesses that traded with Cuba would face legal sanctions in the US.
Illinois company Archer Daniels Midland and other food processors have signed contracts to supply more than $14 million worth of chicken, corn, wheat, soybean meal, rice and other foods.
"It is our hope that these initial sales to Cuba will serve the purpose of proving the point that it is a logical thing for Cuba and the United States to trade with one another," ADM executive Mr Larry Cunningham said as the Crowley ship docked in Havana.
Mr Pedro Alvarez, president of Cuba's state-run Alimport, which made the purchases, said "US producers do not have markets for all their products and Cuba is a secure market."
Moves are under way in the US Congress to loosen the sanctions further.
