HAVANA — Gov. Cuomo kicked off his whirlwind trade mission to Cuba
Monday by meeting with government and business leaders — but it was a
1956 Chevy that really caught his eye.
At the end of a walking tour of Old Havana, Cuomo came across a 1956
Chevrolet Bel Air that had a Toyota engine inside. The owner, Julio
Alvare, could no longer get American parts because of trade
restrictions.
"A 1956-1957 is a real classic," Cuomo said. "They are very rare and
very expensive. They have a different adapation here that I have never
seen before.”
Cuomo, referring to the trade embargo, added: "If you can’t get a Chevy engine you know something has to be done."
The walking tour came at the end of a lengthy day that also featured
closed door meetings with government officials and a roundtable with
local business leaders, where the governor was presented with what he
called his first Cuban cigar.
He also met briefly with New York college students studying in Havana
and sat down with Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino of the Cuban
archdiocese, who the governor presented with a New York Mets hat.
"All the people we have met have been very, very kind,” he said.
Cuomo arrived in the steamy Cuban capital just before noon with the
official goal of opening pathways for New York businesses in Cuba.
The obstacles between the two nations were evident from his first
moments on the ground. Road signs touting the revolution of Fidel Castro
dotted the highway leading from the airport as did others denouncing
the ongoing U.S. trade embargo as genocide.
Cuomo was also circumspect about whether he would press human rights
issues during his meetings with Cuban officials, saying only "when it is
appropriate we will bring it up."
Administration officials, later in the day, argued that Cuomo had at
least broached the issue in his public remarks at the roundtable when he
noted that New York had always welcomed people of all races and that the Statue of Liberty was in New York harbor.
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