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Cuomo to Lead First Official State Delegation to Cuba in April

By Jeff Mays | February 27, 2015 8:13am
 Gov. Andrew Cuomo will lead the first official state delegation to Cuba since President Barack Obama began normalizing relations with the island nation. The international trip is a departure for Cuomo who did not travel outside of the country much during his first term except to Afghanistan and Israel.   
Cuomo to Lead First Official State Delegation to Cuba in April
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NEW YORK CITY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo will lead the first official state delegation to Cuba since President Barack Obama began normalizing relations with the island nation.

On April 20, Cuomo will travel with Chief of the Cuban Interests Section José Ramón Cabañas, other state officials and business leaders. The Cuban Interests section is the de facto Cuban diplomatic division in lieu of formal relations.

"It is only right that New York’s governor will lead the first official state delegation to Cuba since President Obama’s December 17th announcement,” Cabañas said in a statement. “As the gateway to America, New York State has always been a great symbol to the Cuban people."

As of 2004, there were about 78,000 Cubans living in New York state, compared to 990,000 in Florida, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

Cuomo called the trip a "a tremendous stepping stone for our state’s relationship with Cuba" that "will help open the door to a new market for New York businesses."

It was not clear how long the trip would last or how much it would cost.

The governor said the trip is part of his Global NY initiative announced last year, which seeks to create new business opportunities for New York state globally.

The $35 million initiative already has offices in Canada, China, Israel, Mexico, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Of the $35 million, $25 million is for small business loans, which in conjunction with bank lending, could rise to $50 million.

A $10 million grant fund will provide up to $25,000 for small- and medium-sized businesses to prepare them to compete for global business opportunities by funding things like export marketing plans and website translation.

Several other trade missions to China, Israel and Mexico are expected in the future.

“The fundamental role for government should be to develop the economy, because if the economy is running, and jobs are coming in, people have opportunity,” Cuomo said when he announced the initiative in October.

The international trips are a departure for Cuomo, who did not travel outside of the country much during his first term. 

He took a surprise trip to Afghanistan to visit troops in September. In August, Cuomo visited Israel and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

By contrast, Mayor Bill de Blasio has visited Italy on vacation and made trips to Paris and Manchester, England — all roughly during his first year in office.