Washington, October 14 (RHC)-- Nine U.S. governors have sent a letter to the U.S. Congress demanding the lifting of restrictions on Cuba particularly in the areas of travel, financial transactions and trade, which are part of the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade of the island.

The letter, addressed to the Republican majority leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, to the Speaker of the House Republican John Boehner, and to the majority leaders in both the House and the Senate, notes that it is time that Congress take action and lift the sanctions that hinder normal trade between the United States and Cuba.

The document recalls that for years Cuba has purchased agricultural products from U.S. farmers, but sustainable commercial relations should not be limited to just one sector or through one-way transactions, Prensa Latina news agency reported.

The governors told the U.S. Congress that competitors like Canada, Brazil and the European Union, which also undergo the effects of the extraterritorial U.S. blockade, have gotten a head start on the markets in Cuba, to the detriment of U.S. businesses.

The letter also points to the potential for bilateral exchange between the U.S. and the Cuban people if U.S. citizens are allowed to travel to Cuba as tourists.

The politicians, who represent both the Democratic and the Republican parties, backed the executive measures adopted by President Barack Obama, including the latest ones in September, but they insisted that the U.S. Congress should go further and completely lift the U.S. blockade of Cuba.

The letter was signed by governors 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 (Washington).