The latest issue of Newsweek chronicles growing momentum in and around Congress this summer for lifting the US travel ban:

"Nobody would accuse Guillermo Fariñas of being soft on the Cuban government. . . During his most recent hunger strike—begun in February to press for the release of 25 ailing political prisoners—he nearly died when a blood clot formed in his jugular vein. He resumed eating only after President Raúl Castro announced in early July that he was freeing 52 dissidents, including the 25 sick ones. And yet, in a recent interview with Spain’s El País, Fariñas called for something considered heresy in some anti-Castro circles: lifting the U.S. travel ban on the island. “The visits of millions of U.S. citizens would without doubt change this country,” he said.

The anti-Castro lobby remains strong in the United States, and wants to keep Cuba isolated. Until now, it’s been able to defeat virtually every effort to open the island to American tourists. But Fariñas is one of a growing number of influential Cubans and Americans who see the 50-year policy to completely isolate Cuba as a failure. Now interest groups of all sorts—big business, farmers, human-rights advocates, religious organizations, even many Cuban-Americans—have united to back a new congressional bill that would lift the travel ban and further loosen restrictions on U.S. agricultural sales to the island. “There is significant momentum building,” says Carlos Saladrigas, co-chair of the Cuba Study Group, which supports the measure. . .

Allowing American tourists to travel to Cuba would also be good for U.S. business, increasing demand for American products while providing Cuba the hard currency to buy them. According to a March study by researchers at Texas A&M University, lifting travel and financial restrictions could increase exports by up to $365 million per year and add 6,000 new American jobs. A 2002 analysis by the Brattle Group, a consulting firm, found that the increase in tourism—including more air and cruise travel—could bolster the U.S. gross domestic product by up to $1.6 billion and create as many as 23,000 jobs. “Here’s a shovel-ready project to put Americans back to work,” says Lisa Simon, president of the National Tour Association."

American Farm Bureau Federation President, Bob Stallman, a Texas rice farmer, agrees in an op-ed, "For Sake of Farmers, Lift Cuba Ban," in the Houston Chronicle today.

"This scene remains a hopeful vision for America's farmers and ranchers: American tourists strolling down the paving-stone streets, browsing the colorful shops and enjoying the rustic cantinas of Old Havana. Why, you may ask, would a Texas rice and beef producer care? The answer can be summed up in three words — enhanced agricultural trade.."

What's particularly interesting about this op-ed is that Stallman cues farm state legislators not to let their frustration over three FTA agreements they want passed - which was aired during last month's Agriculture Committee 25-20 vote on Cuba - actually stand in the way of moving the Cuba bill.

"Our farmers and ranchers are not just focused on Cuba. Increasing foreign trade remains a key to the success of American agriculture. We are also pushing free-trade agreements for Korea, Panama and Colombia. While each trade bill is important, the key distinction is that the Cuba bill is alive and kicking in Congress this summer."