The Cuba Working Group is a bipartisan caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives that has pushed since the early 2000s to replace the U.S. embargo of Cuba with a policy of engagement, primarily by lifting travel restrictions and opening trade. The same name is used by a separate private-sector advisory body at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/COA), and similar aims are pursued by adjacent organizations such as the Cuba Study Group and a DSA solidarity committee. If you searched the term expecting one organization, the congressional caucus is almost always what is meant.
The House Cuba Working Group
The caucus was co-founded by Representative Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, and Representative William Delahunt, a Democrat from Massachusetts, during Flake’s early years in the House. Its original focus was opposing the Cuba travel ban. By June 2002 it had grown to 44 members, evenly split between 22 Democrats and 22 Republicans, with a roster that included Paul Ryan, Ray LaHood, Ron Paul, John Thune, Charles Rangel, and Tammy Baldwin.1Latin America Working Group. Cuba Working Group in the House of Representatives
A founding statement of principles, signed by Flake, Delahunt, Jo Ann Emerson, and James McGovern, called the embargo a “spent force” that was “at odds with America’s strategic and diplomatic interests.” The members argued U.S. policy should respect Cuban sovereignty and encourage contact through travel, religious exchanges, and commerce, drawing explicit comparisons to American engagement with China and Vietnam. They cited an estimate that sanctions blocked roughly $500 million annually in remittances and travel assistance to Cuban families.2Latin America Working Group. House of Representatives Cuba Working Group Principles for a Sound Cuba Policy
Flake later said at a Council on Foreign Relations event that the early group had “a number of successes in the early years — being able to pass legislation to prohibit enforcement of the travel ban,” though the effort never secured a presidential signature.3Council on Foreign Relations. A Conversation With Senator Jeff Flake
The 2015 Relaunch
After several founders left Congress, the group was relaunched on December 16, 2015, roughly a year after President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro announced a diplomatic thaw. Twelve House members formed a new steering committee and wrote to Speaker Paul Ryan and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi announcing plans to “build a new policy framework for U.S.-Cuban relations.”4Office of Congressman Jim McGovern. Bipartisan Cuba Working Group Announced
The 2015 committee split evenly between the parties. The Democrats were Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, Kathy Castor of Florida, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, Sam Farr of California, Barbara Lee of California, and Nydia Velázquez of New York. The Republicans were Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Rick Crawford of Arkansas, Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Ted Poe of Texas, Reid Ribble of Wisconsin, and Mark Sanford of South Carolina.4Office of Congressman Jim McGovern. Bipartisan Cuba Working Group Announced
The Legislation It Has Backed
The bills the group has endorsed show what its members mean by engagement. In 2015 the group backed the Cuba Trade Act (H.R. 3238), which would have allowed unrestricted private-sector trade; the Cuba DATA Act (H.R. 3055), targeting telecommunications services; the Cuba Agriculture Exports Act (H.R. 3687), permitting American investment in privately owned Cuban agricultural businesses; and the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act (H.R. 664), lifting all travel restrictions for U.S. citizens.4Office of Congressman Jim McGovern. Bipartisan Cuba Working Group Announced
Members kept reintroducing those bills after political conditions shifted. In the 115th Congress, Representative Emmer reintroduced the Cuba Trade Act (H.R. 442), Representative Sanford reintroduced the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act (H.R. 351), and Representative Crawford introduced the Cuba Agricultural Exports Act (H.R. 525).5Latin America Working Group. Congress Moves Forward on Cuba
Companion action has continued in the Senate. In January 2025, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon introduced the United States-Cuba Trade Act of 2025 (S. 136), which would repeal the Helms-Burton Act and the Cuban Democracy Act and establish normal trade relations. Citing International Trade Commission data, Wyden argued that easing restrictions could increase annual U.S. exports by $1.4 billion within five years.6U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. Wyden Introduces Bill to End Cuba Embargo, Establish Normal Trade Relations
Response to the Trump Administrations
When President Trump announced in June 2017 that he would partially roll back Obama-era engagement policies, the group had grown to 24 members with co-chairs Barbara Lee, Rick Crawford, Kathy Castor, and Tom Emmer. They issued a statement saying they “strongly disagree with the decision to reinstate failed isolationist policies towards Cuba” and pledged to engage federal agencies on the consequences.7Office of Congresswoman Kathy Castor. Bipartisan Cuba Working Group Statement
At a Ripon Society discussion, Emmer and fellow member Darin LaHood of Illinois framed the issue in economic and national-security terms, pointing to opportunities in agriculture and manufacturing and arguing Cold War-era isolation no longer served American interests.8The Ripon Society. This Is More About Our National Security Than Anything Else Castor criticized new restrictions in April 2019 for harming Cuba’s private sector and again in June 2019 for the toll of Trump-era policies on Cuban entrepreneurs and American travel.9Office of Congresswoman Kathy Castor. Bipartisan Cuba Working Group Press Releases
The policy environment the group faces in the second Trump term is more restrictive than any period it has previously worked in. On his first day back in office in 2025, the President revoked the Biden administration’s removal of Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list and later signed National Security Presidential Memorandum 5 on June 30, 2025, reaffirming the embargo and restricting U.S. tourism. Executive Order 14404, signed May 1, 2026, expanded Cuba-related sanctions to reach persons operating in Cuban energy, defense, metals and mining, financial services, and security sectors, and authorized secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions.10Steptoe. Beyond the Embargo: Escalating Pressure Against Cuba During Trump’s Second Term11The White House. Imposing Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba
Other Groups Called a “Cuba Working Group”
The name is not unique to Congress. The Americas Society/Council of the Americas runs its own Cuba Working Group aimed at the private sector, led by Alana Tummino, AS/COA’s Policy Senior Director. It brings together corporate leaders from banking, financial services, energy, telecommunications, hospitality, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and law to analyze the regulatory environment and explore business opportunities in Cuba.12Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Cuba Working Group Supports U.S. Engagement With Cuba
Its practical work includes organizing business delegations to Havana by invitation from Cuba’s ministries of foreign affairs and foreign trade, advising companies on steps they can take under existing restrictions, and publishing papers on regulations affecting U.S. business activity under the embargo. Western Union, a long-time member, expanded its remittance services to Cuba in 2016 with public support from AS/COA.13Americas Society/Council of the Americas. Cuba Working Group In June 2017, Tummino warned that “rolling back the policy of engagement will hurt the very people it aims to support.”12Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Cuba Working Group Supports U.S. Engagement With Cuba
Related Organizations You May Encounter
Two other groups work the same policy space without using the “Cuba Working Group” name, and they sometimes get lumped in.
The Cuba Study Group is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization of Cuban-American business leaders chaired by Miami businessman Carlos Saladrigas and run by Executive Director Ricardo “Ric” Herrero from Washington, D.C. Its central premise is that engagement, not isolation, best serves the Cuban people and American interests, and it emphasizes the Cuban diaspora’s role as what it calls a “strategic asset” for economic development. The organization states it does not accept funding from any U.S. government source or government-funded subcontractor.14Cuba Study Group. About Us15Cuba Study Group. U.S.-Cuba Relations in the Biden Era Its February 2021 memo to the incoming Biden administration urged lifting Trump-era travel and remittance restrictions, restarting consular services, and appointing a Special Representative to address confiscated U.S. property claims, arguing that “the road to resilient relations runs through, not around, Miami.”16Miami Herald. Cuba Study Group Policy Memo
On the activist left, the Democratic Socialists of America run a Cuba Solidarity Working Group within their International Committee, co-chaired by Danny Valdes. It takes a more radical posture than the congressional or corporate groups, characterizing the embargo as “economic warfare” and a “crime against humanity,” and it specifically opposes the Cuban Democracy Act, the Helms-Burton Act, and Cuba’s State Sponsor of Terrorism designation. Its strategy leans on DSA-affiliated elected officials to sponsor city and state resolutions against the embargo and on coalition work with labor unions.17Democratic Socialists of America. Cuba Solidarity18Democratic Socialists of America. It’s Time for Cuban Americans to Support the Fight to End the U.S. Embargo