(From left) United States lawmakers Bob Etheridge, D-NC, Rodney Alexander, R-LA, Marion Berry, D-AR, and Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, walk in Old Havana, on Tuesday. The four U.S. lawmakers along with Jack Kingston, R-GA, made an unannounced visit to Havana to explore agricultural trade opportunities at a gathering officials hope will lead to contracts to sell up to US$150 million in American goods to Cuba.

HAVANA (AP):

The Unite States Congress should take a hard look at American policy toward Cuba and debate whether Washington's 45-year-old embargo is working, visiting U.S. lawmakers said Tuesday.

Headed by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, the five-member bipartisan delegation is spending five days in Cuba to discuss farm trade and catch a glimpse of life on the communist-run island.

The group attended a U.S.-Cuba trade fair, speaking with American business leaders and Cuban trade officials before meeting with Cuban Parliament speaker Ricardo Alarcon and representatives from the island's Roman Catholic Church.

"It's bipartisan but it's also with different histories with regard to lifting the embargo and travel restrictions," DeLauro, who favours easing U.S. sanctions, said of the group. "So it's the conversations, it's the dialogue, it's the understanding from both perspectives what the future could be. And I think that helps us to move forward on legislation in the Congress."

The embargo prohibits most Americans from visiting Cuba and chokes off nearly all trade between both countries. But direct sales of U.S. food and agricultural products has been allowed since 2000.

Ease-up plane failed

Proposals to further ease trade and travel restrictions have been introduced in both houses of Congress, though similar measures have failed in years past.

Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican, has traditionally supported U.S. sanctions against the island. He stopped short of saying his Cuba visit would change the way he would vote in the future, but said: "As the world gets smaller, there's reason to continue discussion."

"If you look at this from an economic standpoint it is a no-brainer," Kingston said. "It's clear both countries could get a lot out of trade agreements on almost any commodity. But our job as members of Congress isn't just to look at business proposals, but the politics, the diplomacy, the human rights standpoints."

The group arrived on Monday afternoon, hours before Fidel Castro released the latest in a series of essays, this one accusing U.S. President George W. Bush of saying recently "I'm a hard-line president and I'm only waiting for Castro to die."