Credit: twitter.com/mayorcantrell /   New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell

 By Gary Raynaldo   DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

The mayor of the city of New Orleans LaToya Cantrell visited Cuba this week to build a relationship with the socialist country.  “It’s very important for the city of New Orleans to build on a relationship with Cuba,”  Mayor Cantrell said.  The New Orleans Mayor was reported to be interested in learning more about advances she said Cuba has made in education and healthcare, according to WPLG local10.com.     Included in the trip, were New Orleans officials who would be gathering information on economic development, learning more about  literacy rates,  and issues such as maternity/mortality.

“Maternity/mortality rates are up, and so we know that we can learn directly from you as you activated community healthcare on the ground.”

Mayor Cantrell, as reported by WPLG local10.com in Havana. 

The Cantrell administration says the purpose of the trip is to see how Cuba’s history led to challenges and opportunities when it comes to trade, health care, education and other issues.

Since its 1959 revolution, Cuba’s infant mortality rate has fallen from 37.3 to 4.3 per 1000 live births—a rate equivalent to Australia’s and lower than the United States’ (5.8). From 1970 to 2016 life expectancy increased from 70.04 to 78.7 years, approaching expectancy in the United States (79.8). Cuba’s leading health care problems—non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and stroke—are typical of much more wealthy countries. (Commonwealth Fund) . Cuba’s literacy rate is 99.8 percent. 

For the mayor and staffers, the total cost of the trip is $15,460.89, which includes hotel, airfare, transportation, and meals, according to a City Hall spokesperson. Cantrell told Miami’s WPLG-TV that the trip was publicly and privately funded.

We visited a primary school, the National Literacy Museum & the U of Havana. Similarly to #NewOrleans, after more than 290 years, Dr. Miriam Nicado García was appointed Rector. The first black person & woman to lead the institution. We discussed opportunities for exchanges. #Cuba pic.twitter.com/m6RyTLE975

— Mayor LaToya Cantrell (@mayorcantrell) April 6, 2019

New Orleans Mayor In Cuba Same Week As UN General Assembly President  

Credit: twitterUNGA /  María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés,   President of the United Nations General Assembly, meets with Cuba President Miguel  Díaz-Canel in Havana April 4, 2019. 

María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés,   President of the United Nations General Assembly, visited Cuba last week for an official visit.  “The objective is to strengthen cooperation with the United Nations,” according to a statement from the UNGA President’s office.  Espinosa Garcés traveled first to Mexico on Monday April 1 for meetings with officials before arriving in Cuba Wednesday.  In Mexico,  Espinosa Garcés met with the country’s President, H.E. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the Foreign Secretary, H.E. Marcelo Ebrand, the Secretary of Interior, the Secretary of Health, and the Secretary of Welfare among other members of the government. Espinosa Garcés  also met with women leaders in Mexico,  and gave a lecture on : “The Relevance of the UN and the challenges for multilateralism”.

New Orleans Mayor’s  Trip To Cuba Shrouded In Secrecy Amid Trump’s Tighter Travel Restrictions 

Mayor Cantrell is getting heat for not announcing her trip to Cuba in advance, and explaining the potential benefits to her city constituents.    “Mayor LaToya Cantrell didn’t even try to explain why she’s in Cuba this week. She didn’t announce the trip at all,”  nola.com wrote in an editorial.  However, the editorial pointed out that Cuba and New Orleans share long-time cultural and economic ties.  “The city has long historical and cultural ties there. Before the United States embargo on trade with Cuba began in 1962,  New Orleans was one of the biggest U.S. trading partners with the island nation,” nola.com.

“Cuba likes Louisiana connections, and they know we have tried to reach out. I’m glad the mayor’s doing it. I think it’s an important thing to keep the lifeline going,”  Romi Gonzalez, chairman of New Orleans’ International Cuba Society, said in an interview.

“Many of the things we produce here or come down the river are items Cuba needs and doesn’t produce.”

Former President Obama initiated a policy of engagement  with Cuba in 2014, that included restoring U.S. passenger flights to the socialist country after more than 50  years, and opening the doors for American companies to do business there.   Then  President Trump reversed all of Obama’s policies toward Cuba in 2017, and put in place stringent travel regulations on Americans visiting and doing business with the country. 

“Effective immediately, I am canceling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal with Cuba,”

President Trump said in June 2017. 

However, it appears that the United Nations and the city of New Orleans are not under the influence of the rabid  anti-CASTRO  Cuba Florida (Cuban Exiles)  brigade that  has dictated U.S. policy toward the country with every American president since Castro came to power in 1959,   discouraging any engagement or dialogue with Cuba,   except the Obama administration, which boldly defied the anti-Castro Florida lobby.