Kerry calls for end to Cuban embargo

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday called on his country's lawmakers to lift the five-decade-old trade embargo against Cuba.

"I personally think the embargo should be lifted, because doing so would help the Cuban people," Kerry said in a televised interview in Chile, where he was attending an international conference.

According to Kerry, the US would continue to gradually normalize ties with Cuba, which was severed during the John F. Kennedy administration, reported Xinhua.

The Cuban side believes the embargo remains one of the main obstacles to normalizing bilateral ties with Washington, apart from the US occupation of Guantanamo.