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• Virginia ready to trade more with Cuba 

"If you lift these restrictions, you increase the ability of the average person to interact with the outside world," he said. "Fifty years is long enough." . . . Not every business in Virginia would necessarily benefit from open trade with Cuba. U.S. cigar companies could be seriously hurt if the domestic market ends up being flooded with cigars produced by Cuba's government-controlled industry, said Gerry Roerty, vice president and general counsel at Swedish Match North America.

Chesterfield County-based Swedish Match, which sells cigars from the Dominican Republic and Honduras, wants lawmakers to ensure a competitive market if the embargo is lifted, perhaps by limiting imports of Cuban cigars for a certain time until U.S. companies can access Cuban tobacco leaf.

"We have been talking actively to members of Congress about this," Roerty said. . . .

"For about 50 years now, people have been waiting for the day when they can legally get their hands on Cuban cigars again," Roerty said.

As many as 80 percent of cigar consumers would do exactly that, Roerty said.

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