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U.S. lawmakers in Cuba to see Raul Castro, jailed contractor Gross
Source: Reuters
U.S. lawmakers in Cuba to see Raul Castro, jailed contractor Gross
By Marc Frank
HAVANA | Mon Feb 18, 2013 5:47pm EST
(Reuters) - A seven-member delegation of U.S. lawmakers arrived in Cuba on Monday in the latest effort to move forward political relations that have been at a standstill since U.S. government contractor Alan Gross was imprisoned there in 2009.
Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, who saw Gross and met with Cuban President Raul Castro and other high-ranking officials a year ago, is leading the group of five senators and two members of the House of Representatives on a three-day visit to communist Cuba.
Despite the stalemate, more people traveled between the two countries in 2012, cash remittances sent to the island also increased, as did food-for-cash sales under a 2000 amendment to the U.S. trade embargo.
Between 450,000 and 500,000 Cuban Americans and Americans visited Cuba, according to tourism industry sources, and food sales increased by $100 million to $457 million, making the United States one of Cuba's top 10 trading partners and second provider of tourists after Canada.
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By Marc Frank
HAVANA | Mon Feb 18, 2013 5:47pm EST
(Reuters) - A seven-member delegation of U.S. lawmakers arrived in Cuba on Monday in the latest effort to move forward political relations that have been at a standstill since U.S. government contractor Alan Gross was imprisoned there in 2009.
Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, who saw Gross and met with Cuban President Raul Castro and other high-ranking officials a year ago, is leading the group of five senators and two members of the House of Representatives on a three-day visit to communist Cuba.
Despite the stalemate, more people traveled between the two countries in 2012, cash remittances sent to the island also increased, as did food-for-cash sales under a 2000 amendment to the U.S. trade embargo.
Between 450,000 and 500,000 Cuban Americans and Americans visited Cuba, according to tourism industry sources, and food sales increased by $100 million to $457 million, making the United States one of Cuba's top 10 trading partners and second provider of tourists after Canada.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/18/us-cuba-usa-idUSBRE91H0RJ20130218