Cuba suspends postal deliveries to United States

Jan 21, 2011, 19:58 GMT

Havana - Cuba on Friday suspended 'until further notice' its postal deliveries to the United States, in protest over additional security measures adopted by US authorities for air transport.

In a statement read in the midday television news, the firm Correos de Cuba (Cuban Post) said that 'until further notice they cannot continue to accept in their post offices any kind of item to be sent to the United States.'

Cuba and the United States have had no direct postal exchanges since 1963, and they mail each other through third countries, usually Mexico and Canada.

According to the official statement, the air lines that carry out the delivery 'have returned in its entirety the correspondence that was sent to that country' as a result of new security regulations imposed on all countries in the world, not just Cuba.

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) adopted late last year new regulations, to counter the threat that terrorists may use postal planes to perpetrate attacks. Among other rules, TSA ruled that parcels weighing more than 1 pound (0.45 kilogrammes) were to enter the United States in cargo planes.

Cuba already suspended mail delivery to the United States during the November 25-December 8 period. In recent days, Cubans with relatives in the United States had complained of the return of their letters.

US officials travelled to Havana in September for talks on relaunching direct mail delivery. So far, no progress has been reported on the issue.

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