Colombus, pril 5 (RHC-Agencies)-- The U.S. State of Ohio stands to benefit if the Ohio State Council of Engage Cuba, a Washington D.C.-based business group seeking to end the 56-year-old U.S. blockade on Cuba, is successful, local media in Ohio has reported.

The Dispatch newspaper notes that while Ohio already exports corn and soybean products to Cuba under humanitarian exceptions to the current trade ban, under the U.S. blockade the Caribbean state is barred from making credit arrangements with U.S. businesses, which would facilitate and enlarge trade relations.

Farm Bureau spokesman Joe Cornely told The Dispatch: “In agriculture, we tend to be free-trade oriented. When you consider 95 out of 100 potential customers are located outside of the United States, any time we can find new markets for our products we think it's a positive development.”

The paper further notes that Cuba and the United States are too closely tied by geography and family to remain separated, and suggests that lifting the blockade would restore a natural and healthy relationship.