By Mike Benbow
Herald Writer
The timing of a women’s mission to Cuba that starts Friday couldn’t be better, said Connie Niva of Everett.
Niva, who will join some 40 women from the state on the first mission sponsored by the University of Washington’s Center for Women &Democracy, said efforts in Congress to expand trade with Cuba make the trip "terribly timely."
Once these expanded trade relationships begin, "I think the state of Washington will be a good position," said Niva, a founding member of the center and vice chairwoman of its board.
Niva, who is also a member of the state Transportation Commission, said women from agriculture, medicine, banking, technology and a variety of other fields are participating.
U.S. Rep. Maria Cantwell, D.-Wash., will lead the delegation. Jerilyn Brousseau of Edmonds is another attendee from Snohomish County.
Trade with Cuba has been prohibited since 1961, but exemptions for agriculture and medicine were approved last year in Congress. A bill under consideration this year would allow farmers and other businesses to involve American banks in financing the deals, and would also lift travel restrictions to Cuba.
"Hopefully, we’ll establish some ties beneficial to the state of Washington when the embargo is lifted," Niva said.
The weeklong mission isn’t just a trade trip.
Its goals are:
Niva said it stems from a trip women civic and business leaders took two years ago to Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to exchange experiences and best practices for involvement of women in government and community organizations.
"We were amazed that with some planning, you could get to meet the women who made things happen," Niva said. "We came back from central Europe in a state of shock over what we didn’t know."
Niva said that visit came about a decade after the fall of communism. She said attendees were then interested in visiting a communist country to see what roles for women were like.
Niva was among the members of that trip who worked to establish the UW’s Center for Women &Democracy and to arrange for the Cuba visit. The women are paying their own way.
"These areas need America if they’re ever going to move from communism to socialism to democracy," Niva said. "There’s usually a lot of corruption (during the transition), and it can be a slippery slope."
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