Havana, January 29 (RHC)-- A new committee backing normalizing U.S. relations with Cuba has raised more than $350.000 to support presidential candidates, who favor lifting Washington's blockade policy towards Cuba.

The group, New Cuba Political Action Committee or PAC, was officially launched in May 2015. It views itself as a counterweight to the pro-embargo U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC.

James Williams, director of the pro-normalization New Cuba PAC said that while the sum announced this week isn’t that big in the world of political fund-raising, it is an indication of the surge of interest in Cuba since U.S. President Barack Obama’s announcement in December 2014 that he would move to normalize relations with the neighboring Caribbean state.

“This is something that’s been missing for a long time,” he said.

Notable contributors to the pro-normalization New Cuba PAC, out of a list of more than 100, include Miguel "Mike" Fernandez, an American health care industry businessman, Carlos Gutiérrez, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President George W. Bush, Manny Diaz, a former mayor of Miami, Eduardo Mestre, who sits on the board of Comcast Corp. and John McIntire, chairman of on-line language education company Open English.