Over the weekend, Congressman Mike Conaway (R-TX) joined a bipartisan group of ten Members of Congress on a Congressional trip to Havana, Cuba. Congressman Conaway has been a strong supporter of the U.S. embargo and wanted to see what is and isn’t working in Cuba.
The ten lawmakers met with Cuba's foreign minister, Felipe Perez Roque, national assembly president Alarcon, the Catholic archbishop of Havana, and various diplomats.
"I enjoyed my visit and found the Cuban people that I met with individually to be warm, hospitable, and gracious,” said Conaway. “I was discouraged, however, in our meetings with the Cuban government officials, as they made it abundantly clear that they are decidedly uninterested in discussing human rights, free press, and free elections. There are other areas, such as narcotics trafficking, on which I believe we can make progress. Nothing on my trip persuaded me that ending the embargo and travel restrictions would have any positive impact on moving Cuba toward a Democracy. Until Cuban leaders are willing to move toward a working democracy, ending the embargo and opening travel and trade with Cuba is not in the best interest of the United States.”
Other members of the delegation were: Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-TN), Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA), Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), Rep. Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) and Rep. Hilda Solis (D- CA).
