Gov. Greg Abbott to Lead Texas Trade Delegation to Cuba

November 25, 2015

It may not be Nixon’s trip to China, but Gov. Greg Abbott will lead a trade mission to Cuba next week.

It will be Abbott’s second foreign trade trip — he visited Mexico in September — and the second trip to Cuba by a governor since President Barack Obama initiated a thaw in relations with Cuba and opened up embassy relations in August.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson led a trade mission of Arkansas agricultural business interests to Cuba in September.

But the political symbolism of the conservative Republican governor of Texas visiting the island nation still in the grips of the Castro brothers is stunning.

The Austin American-Statesman, Nov. 24, 2015

Featuring: Jorge R. Piñon, Director, Latin America and Caribbean Energy Program, Jackson School of Geosciences