Monday, August 31, 2009

Postal service to resume between Cuba and U.S.?

Direct postal service between Cuba and the U.S. may be restarted after being suspended for nearly five decades.

According to this Reuters article, unnamed “Western diplomats” said that negotiations will take place in Havana in several weeks. So far there has been no official confirmation from either Washington or Havana of the claims made in the piece.

The possible discussions would represent another sign of the thawing in relations between the U.S and Cuba. Cuban and U.S. officials agreed in May to resume discussions over immigration as well as openness to resuming direct postal service. The current postal arrangement involves mail going through a third country while U.S.-owned firms like UPS and FedEx are barred from making express mail deliveries. (German-owned company DHL can, however.)

Today’s news comes on the heels of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s visit to Havana last week where he called for improved relations between the island and the U.S.:
"There is a good atmosphere [between the two countries]," he said at a news conference in Havana on Friday. "It is the best atmosphere I've seen in many years."

Richardson called for "concrete steps from both sides," but noted a "lack of flexibility in their positions" and reciprocity from the Cuban government.

He also called on the United States to "pay more attention to the Cuba issue, though acknowledged more urgent U.S. priorities like health-care reform have drawn attention away from normalizing relations.
Image- computer-stamps.com
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, CNN, Reuters

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Have you seen this story/NEWS?: Movie about Sirius XM sends U.S. Postal Worker to the Stars

When a humble and dedicated U.S. postal worker was pushed into early retirement by the recent economic meltdown, he had no idea he would end up the star of a Hollywood film about the American Stock Market.

http://www.prlog.org/10340245-movie-about-sirius-xm-sends-us-postal-worker-to-the-stars.html