By Jeff Franks

HAVANA (Reuters) – Congressional Democrats on Friday the United States came to Havana to meet with Cuban officials, a sign of and accelerated efforts to improve relations between the two countries separated by a century of ideological confrontation.

Barbara Lee leads the group of seven members of the House of Representatives that landed in Havana without messages President Barack Obama or proposals for Cubans, but simply to see what are the possibilities.

We are here to learn and speak and see if there are some issues that must communicate to our government Lee told reporters.

Change is in the air and our president, of course, speaks very clearly on the bilateral relations with all countries of the world, he added.

The congressional delegation is the first of which was on record since Obama became president in January.

The five-day visit is while in Washington the House and Senate are preparing to consider proposed legislation that would eliminate the ban for Americans traveling to Cuba, which is part of a United States embargo in 1962.

Obama has said that it might soften the embargo, but do not remove until Cuba steps towards democracy and show greater respect for human rights.

The U.S. President also sought to open dialogue with Cuba as part of a move towards normalization of relations, which have been hostile since the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959 and transformed the island into what is today one of the few countries the communist world.

The more conciliatory approach to Cuba after eight years of hard-line policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush raised hopes among Cubans and Americans opposed to the maintenance of a policy which, they say, failed in his goal of changing the system of government on the island.

Lee said the delegation hopes discuss a number of issues with the Cuban authorities, but said that his agenda is not yet fully defined.

We have requested meetings with key ministries in the areas of trade, tourism and agriculture, all areas that we think the American public would be interested to know and understand, he added.

The delegation consists of members of the Black Caucus, with the exception of Representative Mike Honda, said a spokesperson.

(Published in Spanish by Esteban Israel)