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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
NEWS & TRENDS
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
The White House has announced plans
to open a U.S. embassy in Havana and
loosen trade and travel restrictions on
Cuba very soon. Over time, President
Obama has said that he will work with
Congress to lift the full trade embargo.
These policy changes will enable U.S.
citizens traveling to Cuba to use their
credit and debit cards in the country
and to be able to legally bring home up
to $100 in the prized Cuban cigars that
have long been illegal stateside.
The changes in relations between the
two countries came in the aftermath of
an intercession by Pope Francis, the
Catholic Church’s first Latin American
pontiff. Shortly after private meetings
between Cuban and American delega-
tions were held at the Vatican and in
Canada, an unusual, 45-minute tele-
phone conversation between Obama
and Cuban leader Raul Castro took
place. Next, Cuba released Alan Gross,
an American sentenced to 15 years in
prison in Cuba for his efforts to expand
Internet access for Havana’s Jewish
community. He was accused of under-
mining the Cuban state.
The U.S. and Cuba also arranged a
parallel prisoner exchange of three Cu-
ban intelligence agents for a U.S. intel-
ligence asset who has been imprisoned
for more than 20 years, according to ad-
ministration officials. Cuba also agreed
to release 53 people whom the U.S.
considers political prisoners, some of
whom have already been released, the
officials said.
“Neither the American nor Cuban
people are well served by a rigid policy
that’s rooted in events that took place
before most of us were born,” Obama
said in a statement about the exchange.
“Opening the door with Cuba for
trade, travel and the exchange of ideas
will create a force for positive change
in Cuba that more than 50 years of
our current policy of exclusion could
not achieve,” agreed Senator Richard
Durbin, an Illinois Democrat.
While many elected officials agreed
that the proposed policy change is long
overdue, some criticized the move, in-
cluding several members of the Cuban
American exile community in Florida.
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman
Robert Menendez, who will leave of-
fice in January, reportedly warned that
it “sets an extremely dangerous prece-
dent” that “invites dictatorial and rogue
regimes to use Americans serving over-
seas as bargaining chips.”
According to
Bloomberg News
,
Menendez, whose parents were
among many who fled Cuba during
Fidel Castro’s reign, sees the action as
vindicating brutal behavior by the Cu-
ban government. “I fear that today’s
actions will put at risk the thousands
of Americans that work overseas to
support civil society, advocate for ac-
cess to information, provide humani-
tarian services, and promote demo-
cratic reforms,” he told
Bloomberg
News.
White House to Lift Cuba Trade Embargo
Opening trade with the country will allow travelers to bring Cuban cigars home.
Set to open in the spring of 2015,
Davidoff of Geneva’s new shop will
be situated at the newly renovated
Brookfield Place on the Hudson River
across from the World Trade Cen-
ter. The store will cover nearly 2,000
square feet and feature a walk-in hu-
midor modeled after a tobacco-curing
barn, as well as a large lounge space
adorned with Dominican artist Polibio
Díaz’s photography.
The look of the exterior of the store
will also be bold, featuring a 40-foot
tall “Davidoff of Geneva—since 1911”
facade of onyx and lights. “This space
will provide the ultimate luxury cigar
experience to all who visit,” says Jim
Young, president of Geneva North
America, who notes that the store will
be Geneva’s third New York City loca-
tion.
New NYC Store for Davidoff
Davidoff of Geneva plans to open a new luxurious flagship store in iconic lower Manhattan.