Mexico’s Senate Considers Free Trade Zone With Cuba Possible

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – Mexico's Senate has put forward a proposition to strengthen economic ties with Cuba with a view to create a free trade zone amid Cuba's improving relations with the United States.

According to a statement released by the Senate of the Republic on Tuesday and addressed to the country's president Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexico could benefit from closer bilateral cooperation with Cuba as this would enable it to get access to various regional markets.

In December, 2014, US President Barack Obama announced his intention to normalize US-Cuba relations, which hit rock bottom following the 1959 Cuban Revolution. The US president said he wanted to open an embassy in Havana and to ultimately lift the trade and travel embargo that Cuba has been subject to.

On Tuesday, Obama notified the US Congress that he intended to remove Cuba from the state sponsors of terrorism (SST) list, where it was included in 1982.

Mexico has been maintaining broad ties with Cuba, despite the sanctions that the United States imposed against Havana in 1960.