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Visiting U.S. Agriculture Secretary urges lift of sanctions on Cuba

Xinhua, November 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

The lifting of U.S. sanctions against Cuba is "vital" for a more fluid relationship between the two countries, "as President Barack Obama has repeatedly asked," U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack said here Friday.

At a press conference in the U.S. embassy in Havana, Vilsack said he will return to his country with the commitment to finding new ways to eliminate the barriers to trade with the island, in order to achieve a more fluid relationship in general and in particular in the agricultural sector.

He said the trade of agricultural products between the two countries should be a two-way relationship. "It is not just the United States exporting agricultural products to Cuba, but the Cubans must also be able to ship their goods to the U.S. territory," he said.

"The agricultural sector can serve as a bridge in the process towards normalization of ties," he said, adding that he will help ease the constraints and boost a relationship that will benefit consumers and producers of the two countries.

The U.S. Agriculture Secretary and his entourage arrived here on Wednesday, and have met with Cuban officials including Vice President Ricardo Cabrisas on economic relations and agriculture-related issues.

Vilsack is the third high-ranking U.S. official to visit Cuba in just three months, after Secretary of State John Kerry in August and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker in October.

Cuban authorities consider the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by Washington against Cuba since February 1962 to be the main obstacle to the normalization of relations between the two countries. Endi