Rep. DeGette Thinks Removal Of Cuba Blockade Will Benefit U.S. Companies

DENVER (CBS4) – U.S. Rep Diana DeGette was in Cuba the day before President Obama made this week's big announcement.

A relationship strained by more than 50 years of Cold War tension won't happen overnight. It seems the trade embargo with Cuba will remain in place. Even so, major American companies, including MasterCard, Cisco, Marriott, Pepsi, Caterpillar and Major League Baseball have all shown interest in doing business in Cuba.

"Obviously a really fascinating time to be there just before this happened, and every Cuban who I met was happy to see Americans there, eager for normalization of relations," DeGette said. "And the other thing that I will say is looking at the infrastructure in that country, boy, I think it would really benefit the U.S. if we fully normalized relations and removed the blockade because there's so much opportunity for American companies to go in there."

DeGette was in Cuba to learn more about a breakthrough diabetes drug developed by Cuban scientists. She also met with the foreign ministry to push for the release of American prisoner Alan Gross.