President Barack Obama urged Congress to follow his decision to reopen the American embassy in Havana by lifting the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba.

“We don’t have to be imprisoned by the past,” Obama said on Wednesday at the White House. “Americans and Cubans alike are looking to move forward. I believe it’s time for Congress to do the same.”

The embassy will reopen on July 20, when Cuba also will reopen its embassy in Washington. Secretary of State John Kerry intends to go to Havana to “proudly raise the American flag over our embassy once more,” Obama said...

...Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, a staunch opponent of reestablishing relations with Cuba, accused Obama of trying to burnish his legacy at the expense of the Cuban people.

“Our demands for freedoms and liberty on the island will continue to be ignored and we are incentivizing a police state to uphold a policy of brutality,” he said in a statement. “The message is democracy and human rights take a back seat to a legacy initiative.”

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