• MSNBC/AP, Tuesday, May 15, 2007 11:16 AM

Despite the U.S. Trading With the Enemy Act, which governs Washington's 45-year-old embargo on Cuba, iconic American brands such as Coke, Nike, Colgate and Marlboro, Gillette Series shaving cream and Jordache jeans all are easy to find on the island. Nor are they in black-market back alleys. They can be found in the lobbies of gleaming government-run hotels and in supermarkets and pharmacies.

Cuba has for years sought out American goods as a way of thumbing its nose at the embargo. Officials at three foreign-owned import companies operating in Havana say the communist government itself still imports the vast majority of American goods.

"People, average Cubans included, would rather have Coca-Cola than a no-name generic soda they're not familiar with," says Daniel Erikson, a Cuban economy expert. That translates into higher profits and more profit for the government. The companies say they have no direct knowledge of sales in Cuba, and that the amounts involved are small and would be impractical to stop.

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