Havana, April 21 (RHC) –- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says his trade mission to Cuba with business executives will pressure the U.S. Congress to end the five-decades old economic blockade on Havana.

Cuomo on Monday became the first U.S. governor to visit Cuba since the announcement to re-establish relations between Cuba and the US last December.

“The mission will help take the Cuba debate outside the gridlock of Washington and illustrate the benefits of job creation and social change that would come from lifting the embargo,” Cuomo told reporters aboard the chartered JetBlue Airways Corp. flight. The airline’s chief executive officer, Robin Hayes, is among those traveling with the governor and other top executives from firms like Pfizer Inc. and MasterCard Inc.

“This is going to be a dramatic change that is going to be to the benefit of the people of Cuba and also to the people of the United States,” Cuomo said before a business roundtable at the Parque Central hotel in the historic section of Havana. “We will do everything we can to facilitate and expedite the process of that change.”

Cuomo has also met with with Josefina Vidal, Cuba's top negotiator in meetings over re-establishing diplomatic ties with the United States. And he had meetings planned with officials from the Cuban government and Catholic Church.