Bush’s Oil, Cuban-American Allies Split on Anti-Castro Embargo

High oil prices are driving a wedge between energy companies and the Cuban-American community, two pillars of support for President George W. Bush and his fellow Republicans.

Companies including Marathon Oil Corp. are lobbying Congress to be allowed to bid for oil and natural-gas deposits in Cuban waters. They are backed by Republican lawmakers bucking Bush by supporting legislation to exempt the companies from the 1962 trade embargo and a ban on drilling within 100 miles of U.S. shores.

The U.S. need for energy and the likelihood that foreign companies will rush in to drill justifies the exemption, advocates say. “Are we supposed to sit by and let China drill in our backyard?” says Senator Pete Domenici, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, a co-sponsor with 12 other lawmakers of legislation exempting the U.S. companies.

Cuban-American groups, meanwhile, say the legislation would just prop up the government of President Fidel Castro; if anything, they want the embargo toughened.

Bloomberg