US commerce delegation visits Cuba

HAVANA - A delegation from the US Chamber of Commerce, led by executive chairman Thomas J. Donohue, was visiting Cuba, official daily "Granma" reported here Wednesday.

The group arrived in the capital Tuesday afternoon and held talks with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and Rodrigo Malmierca, Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, the daily reported.

The visitors were scheduled to hold other meetings and tour places linked to "updating" the economic model of the Caribbean island, it said.

This is Donohue's first trip to Cuba since 1999. In a release last week in Washington, he said the journey would give him a "first hand idea" on the changes in Cuba's economic policies and the possibility of doing business there.

Days ago, 40 US personalities asked US President Barack Obama to ease the economic and trade embargo Washington has imposed on Cuba since 1961, the same year both countries broke off formal relations.

Some US politicians and entrepreneurs are lobbying for an end to the economic siege, saying it is harming US companies' business prospects.