Congress Members Head to Cuba

HAVANA, Dec. 14, 2006 — -- The largest U.S. congressional delegation to visit Cuba since President Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 travels to Havana on Friday for a firsthand look at the Communist nation.

Reps. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and William Delahunt, D-Mass., are leading the ten-member delegation of house members -- six Democrats and four Republicans -- that has scheduled meetings with top Cuban leaders and may see acting President Raúl Castro before returning home on Sunday.

"It's time to engage in discussion about issues that separate Cuba and the U.S.," said Delahunt, a member of the House International Relations Committee and co-chairman of the Cuba Working Group with Flake.

"We feel it is timely to make an effort to determine whether there is the political will -- on the part of the Cubans -- to initiate a real dialogue," Delahunt told the press in his district.

The 20-member Cuba Working Group believes engagement, not sanctions, will work better in dealing with Cuba, especially in the post-Castro era, and that the Democrats' victory in the midterm congressional elections provides an opportunity to overcome the Bush administration's opposition to engaging Havana.

The bipartisan coalition plans to introduce legislation in 2007 that would loosen restrictions on Cuban-Americans traveling to Cuba and helping their families, and perhaps addressing other issues.

The group will also meet with U.S. and European diplomats, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the president of the Central Bank, and officials in charge of importing U.S. agricultural products under an amendment to the U.S. trade embargo as well as oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.

The visit comes at a unique moment. Fidel Castro's health is deteriorating while Havana has expressed interest in drawing 48 years of hostile, cold-war era, relations to a close.

In a speech earlier this month, Raul Castro said Cuba is willing "to settle the long U.S.-Cuba disagreement at the negotiating table," repeating an offer he made in August, provided Washington accepts Cuba's sovereignty and such principles as non-intervention.