Cuba receives first delegation of U.S. lawmakers since thaw in ties

HAVANA, Jan. 17 (Xinhua)-- Cuba on Saturday received a group of visiting U.S lawmakers, the first since the two neighboring countries have decided to restore ties.

The delegation, composed of six Democratic lawmakers, will stay in Havana until Monday to have meetings with senior local officials, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, representatives of U.S. organizations and also foreign ambassadors.

The delegation is headed by Senator Patrick Leahy, the most active U.S.legislator on foreign policy issues with Cuba, and other members include Richard Durbin, Debbie Stabenow, Sheldon Whitehouse from the U.S. Senate and Chris Van Hollen and Peter Welch from the House.

"We will discuss our expectations and those of Cubans relating to the normalization of relations," said Leahy in remarks widely broadcasted by global media outlets.

The U.S. politician also grabbed much media attention for a trip to the Caribbean island country in February 2013, when he led a group of Congressmen to request the release of a U.S. contractor sentenced to 15 years in prison by Cuban authorities for allegedly providing high-tech telecommunication equipment for opposition groups.

Alan Gross, the contractor, was finally set free and sent back to the United States on Dec. 17, 2014, as a gesture of good will by President Raul Castro.

The visit of Senator Leahy precedes a planned meeting next week of U.S. and Cuban diplomats, who will discuss principles and steps for the re-establishment of the diplomatic relations, severed in January 1961, and the reciprocal opening of embassies in Havana and Washington.

The respective delegations will be headed by Roberta Jacobson, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Latin America, and Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, head of the Cuban Foreign Ministry's U.S. affairs section.

On Friday, the Obama Administration implemented a package of new laws easing sanctions on the island nation, allowing a high level of exchange in trade and travel between the two neighboring countries, which were locked in enmity for over half a century.

While hailing the new move by Washington, the Cuban official media noted that the embargo slapped on Cuba by the United States remains practically the same, as the U.S. Congress, rather than the president, is the one with enough power to lift these punitive measures. Enditem