US-Cuba Talks to Resume Direct Mail

By Circles Robinson

Both Cuba and the US claim to be free but direct mail between them has been impossible for 46 years.
Both Cuba and the US claim to be free but direct mail between them has been impossible for 46 years.

HAVANA TIMES, Sept. 1 – Representatives of the Cuban and US governments will meet later this month in the Cuban capital to discuss the resumption of direct mail between the two countries, suspended since 1963.

The talks are in addition to the process of bilateral rapprochement begun last May with the resumption of the migration talks, reported IPS.

However, despite some moves to break down barriers in the icy relations, the Obama government continues to impose the half century economic blockade on Cuba as well as prohibiting ordinary US citizens from visiting the island under threat of fines.

After a week long a trip to Cuba in late August, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, an influential Democratic Party politician, suggested it was time to end the travel ban and facilitate trade between the US and Cuba.

While Richardson made it clear that he did not visit Cuba on behalf of the Obama administration, he said he would nonetheless deliver a report to the President.