, 15 countries , have normal relations with Cuba . ... We 're the country which is isolated . '' Watch Lee discuss her visit to Cuba '' But even more significant were the meetings the group had with Cuban President Raúl Castro and with his brother and predecessor , 82-year-old Fidel Castro , a controversial political and social figure . President Obama has said he is in favor of changing the relationship with Cuba . The $ 410 billion budget Obama signed in March makes it easier for Cuban-Americans to travel to Cuba and to send money to family members on the island . It could also allow the sale of agricultural and pharmaceutical products to Cuba . Three provisions attached to the omnibus spending bill loosened restrictions enacted by former President Bush after he came to office in 2001 . Analysts see the lawmakers ' trip and Obama 's campaign rhetoric as a way for the new administration to start thawing relations with Cuba before the Fifth Summit of the Americas . The summit will bring together the U.S. president and 33 other leaders from the Western Hemisphere in mid-April in Trinidad and Tobago . Watch more on
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- `` It 's time to talk to Cuba . '' Fidel Castro is not in power , but he 's still a big part of Cuba . He welcomed the U.S. delegation . That frank assessment from Rep. Barbara Lee , D-California , has resonated loud and clear from the island of Cuba -- 90 miles from the southernmost point of Florida -- to the halls of Congress . For the first time in nearly 50 years , relations between the two nations , which have a history steeped in tension , have seemed to ease a bit . That was apparent this week as a delegation from the Congressional Black Caucus traveled to the communist country on a fact-finding mission , with plans to deliver a report to the White House . Watch CNN 's Ed Hornick discuss the story '' `` Our purpose was to see if there were preconditions on the Cuban side . We heard that there were no preconditions , '' Lee said Wednesday . `` And , in fact , we wanted to find out if they were interested . We have to remember that every country in Latin America