U.S. Governors Request End of Washington's Blockade of Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 14 (acn) Nine U.S. governors asked the leaders of their country's Congress to lift the blockade against Cuba.
The governors signed a letter sent to the Capitol where they requested the end of the blockade against Cuba which they assured "prevents the normalization of relations" between the island and the northern nation.

As governors of the states of the U.S.A. we write to share our support for the end of the existing trade sanctions imposed on Cuba, they pointed out in the letter.
The signatories, Robert Bentley, Alabama; C. L. Otter, Idaho; Steve Bullock, Montana; Edmund G. Brown, California; Mark Dayton, Minnesota; Thomas Wolf, Pennsylvania; Peter Shumlin, Vermont; Terence R. McAuliffe, Virginia and Jay Inslee of Washington, said it is time for the U.S. Congress to take measures and remove travel restrictions, financial restrictions and other conditions that prevent normal relations and trade with Cuba.
A sustainable business relationship can not be limited to a sector or include transactions in only one direction, they said.
"The financial restrictions imposed by the blockade limits the capacity of U.S. companies to take part in the Cuban market competitively," they stated.
In the text, the U.S. politicians expressed to their country's Congress that despite the fact that companies related to agriculture and food sector can legally export to Cuba it is a one-way path; Cuba has to pay products in cash and in advance and it is prohibited from using dollars in such transactions.
In addition, they stressed that ending the blockade will create jobs in the U.S., especially in the rural area, and will boost new opportunities for that country's agriculture.
They considered that "bilateral trade and travel of citizens of both nations could lead to a more harmonious relationship."
The letter was addressed to John Boehner, president of the Congress' House of Representatives; Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader in the Senate; and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, leaders of the Democratic minority in the lower and upper House of Congress, respectively.
Now we ask you and your colleagues in the House of Representatives and the Senate to take significant steps to support trade with Cuba and completely lift the blockade, they asserted before signing the text.
This initiative adds to the repeated calls made by President Obama and senior members of his cabinet since last December 17 for Congress to favor the lifting of the blockade against Cuba.