Havana, February 9 (RHC)-- A bipartisan coalition in the U.S. senate has introduced legislation aimed at lifting current trade restrictions under Washington’s blockade of Cuba. 

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., reintroduced Friday the bipartisan Freedom to Export to Cuba Act, seeking to eliminate the legal barriers to Americans doing business in Cuba and paving the way for new economic opportunities for American businesses and farmers by boosting U.S. exports and allowing Cubans greater access to American goods. 

The legislation repeals key provisions of previous laws that block Americans from doing business in Cuba.

“Instead of looking to the future, U.S.-Cuba policy has been defined for far too long by conflicts of the past,” Klobuchar said.   “Cuba is an island of 11 million people, just 90 miles from our border.  Lifting the trade (embargo) will open the door to a huge export market, create jobs here at home, and support both the American and Cuban economies.  Our bipartisan legislation will finally turn the page on the failed policy of isolation and build on the progress we have made to open up engagement with Cuba by ending (the embargo) once and for all.”

Senator Patrick Leahy said: “Decades after the end of the Cold War, we continue to impose punitive sanctions against Cuba, a tiny island neighbor that poses no threat to us." 

The legislation has been endorsed by Engage Cuba, the Washington Office on Latin America and the Latin America Working Group.