Day 241 - 26 Apr 96 - Page 55
1 Then I miss out the rest of that paragraph and just read
2 the beginning of the next one: "US companies annually
3 import more than 330 million pounds of Central American
4 beef (including live calves) an amount that represents 25
5 per cent of the region's annual beef production and 90 per
6 cent of its beef exports".
7
8 I refer to the chart on the right-hand side where it has
9 the US imports from Central America and for Costa Rica --
10 yes, it includes Costa Rica exports to the USA 46 million
11 and a bit of manufacturing beef and 20 million pounds
12 weight of carcasses and cuts, basically. Guatemala, the
13 equivalent figures are seven and a half million pounds and
14 three-and-a-third million pounds. At the bottom it has a
15 little star underneath the chart saying, "Not including
16 imports by cattle". I think that just refers to Mexico
17 where live cattle are imported from Mexico.
18
19 Then going back to the previous paragraph, the very last
20 sentence just really refers to the charts: "Today
21 Nicaragua ship beef both to the United States and Cuba, and
22 Costa Rica has assumed first place of beef exports to the
23 United States. In some years Costa Rica exports up to
24 two-thirds of its total beef production. Guatemala
25 consistently sells US companies between one-quarter and one
26 thirds of its beef production".
27
28 If I can move onto the bottom of the central column, the
29 incomplete paragraph there, starting with the words, "The
30 process": "The process of converting Central America's
31 rainforest and agricultural land to grassland is largely
32 financed by international credit. The interAmerican
33 Development Bank, the World Bank and the United Nations
34 Development Fund have provided generous loans to Central
35 American countries to expand the amount of land in beef
36 cattle production, construct new beef packing plants and
37 protect livestock against disease". Then it continues
38 explaining that matter.
39
40 If I go to page 17; page 17 is the page 17 which, if you
41 remember, I disclosed a few days ago because it was wrongly
42 photocopied. So if you have a complete page 17 starting
43 with the word "Loans" in the top left-hand corner?
44
45 The first full paragraph, I will read half of that:
46 "Throughout Central America landowners find it easy to
47 obtain financial backing for cattle ranching but not for
48 food production. Bankers willingly support beef cattle
49 producers because they know that the US market for imported
50 beef will produce the funds to pay back their loans".
51
52 Then in the middle column it talks about various US
53 organisations that provide loans and finance. Then in the
54 middle it says:
55
56 "According to the USDA, without the technical assistance
57 these organisations provide, cattle production in the
58 American Tropics would be unprofitable, if not impossible.
59 As a response to this international financial and technical
60 support, exports of deboned frozen beef were the most
