The most significant U.S. agricultural delegation to visit Cuba in more than a decade started three days of meetings Monday, hoping to find potential business partners and urge the U.S. Congress to lift a half-century-old trade embargo against the Caribbean island. Two U.S. former agriculture secretaries, several state agriculture officials, and representatives of various state farm bureaus are among the 95 people whose visit was organized by the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba, formed after the December announcement that the United States and Cuba would restore diplomatic relations. "The message that we hope will get back to Washington is that we are a unifying voice that would like to see Congress act in 2015 and end the embargo," Cargill executive Devry Vorwerk, the chairwoman of the coalition, told Reuters. The coalition says U.S. farmers seek to enter the $2 billion market so close to the United States. "We understand our competitors are here—Argentina, Brazil, the Europeans—and our hands are being tied behind our backs by our own government," Vorwerk said. While President Barack Obama has loosened some trade and travel restrictions, most of the embargo remains in place and only can be ended by Congress.
