Cuba has decided to halt mail deliveries to the USA through third countries in protest attougher US security controls and rising costs.
The country’s postal organisation, Correos de Cuba, announced that the mail service via othercountries to the USA was being suspended until further notice. The country’s post offices would nolonger accept shipments destined for the USA.
Blaming stronger US security controls on incoming letters and parcels, the post office said manyitems were being denied entry and were then being sent back to Cuba by airlines, increasingthe operational costs of the service.
The USA has heightened security checks on inbound mail from a number of countries around theworld following the foiled Yemen parcel-bomb attacks last autumn.
Direct mail services between Cuba and the USA were halted in 1963 as part of the US embargoagainst the island’s communist regime. In 2009, President Obama agreed to allow mail sent from Cubavia other countries such as Canada or Mexico to enter the USA. This was seen as a move to improverelations between the two countries.
Cuba faces massive economic problems and has announced plans to lay off large numbers of workersat state-owned companies. There are few signs of deeper economic or political reform, however,according to international experts.
