"YOU are not harming anyone, you are not harming your country," President Fidel Castro told American farmers participating in trade talks between Cuba and U.S. food companies.

The Cuban president took part in the final session of the meeting at the International Conference Center, where he talked for more than three hours and referred to the will of U.S. farmers to keep up sales to Cuba despite recent measures to block them.

"I congratulate you for the firmness with which you have been fighting to confront that problem," he stated.

Fidel praised the U.S. farmers, informing them he was aware of their productivity and competitiveness due to having talked with more the 1,500 agriculturalists from that country.

He also mentioned techniques used to protect the soil and was interested to know if they were using the experimental method of sowing without plowing the land, with the aim of avoiding erosion and other damage.

He told them that their products would always have a market. "Food is what is going to be most needed in the world," he affirmed.

He was referring to the recent UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report published on December 8, which indicated that five million children die every year on account of hunger and that 852 million people are suffering from chronic malnutrition.

"Every year," he said, "more than 20 million children are born with low weight and run a high risk of dying, while those that survive suffer from physical and mental disabilities throughout their lives.

He explained that the resources for resolving this problem are miniscule compared to the billions of dollars in losses experienced by the poor nations due to reduced productivity and national income due to the sickness and poor living standards of their inhabitants.