1st LD Writethru: Obama calls for an end to Cuba embargo

Hailing the return of Alan Gross, an U.S. contractor jailed in Cuba for five years, U.S. President Barack Obama urged Congress to further ease sanctions on Cuba in his second-to-last State of Union speech on Tuesday.

"When what you're doing doesn't work for fifty years, it's time to try something new," Obama said."Our shift in Cuba policy has the potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere."

The U.S. State Department announced Tuesday an engagement mission later this week by top U.S.diplomat for Latin America Roberta Jacobson with the Cuban government to discuss re-establishing diplomatic relations, with the goal of reopening embassies in each other's capital as the first step to end their half-century enmity.

The U.S. Departments of Treasury and Commerce on Thursday announced regulatory amendments to sanctions on Cuba following the U.S. president's last year's announcement of a set of diplomatic and economic changes to chart a new course in U.S. relations with Cuba.

However, Republican leaders in two Congress Houses have threatened to frustrate key elements of Obama's plans by curtailing funding for a possible new embassy and blocking the appointment of an American ambassador to Cuba. Endit