Travel by members of Congress to Cuba shot up last year ahead of President Obama’s December executive action normalizing relations with the island nation.
Thirteen Democratic House members traveled to Havana in 2014 on at least three separate trips sponsored by nonprofit outside groups, according to travel reports members are required to file with the House Ethics Committee.
One of the trips, in which at least seven lawmakers participated, ended just one day before Obama’s Dec. 17 announcement of a détente with the Castro regime.
The visits coincide with a furious behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign from longtime advocates for normalizing relations with Cuba and pressing Obama last year that the time was right to make a bold move and ease sanctions and lift travel restrictions.
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