• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 01 / 24 / 2011

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Mail services between Cuba and the U.S. were suspended in 1963.Talks between Obama and Cuban officials resulted in resumption of service but only through third countries such as Canada and Mexico in 2009. Direct deliveries were under discussion.

The Cuban postal authorities announced:"Until further notice Cuban post offices cannot keep accepting any type of mail for the United States," A statement was read on TV. The postal authorities apologised for the inconvenience to customers.

This suspension is the result of a slowdown in services and new restrictions imposed on many countries including Cuba in November on a number of countries. The U.S. requested that parcels not be sent for one month. Cuban postal authorities claim that large numbers of letters and parcels were returned to Cuba via third country airllines at considerable cost to Cuba.

A spokesperson for the U.S. postal service said the U.S. was aware that security problems were causing problems for deliveries from several countries including Cuba. But he said"The U.S. Postal Service continues to accept mail, letters and packages arriving to the United States from Cuba"".

Obama's decision to renew some postal service was looked at a move to smooth relations but it obviously did not extend to direct deliveries and the war on terror has made it so restrictive that Cuba has decided it is not worth the trouble.

Source: www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/