Mail from USA being discharged from plane

The mail links between the U.S. and Cuba have been restored, with the arrival of the first mail flight in Havana.

Shortly after 10am on Wednesday, a SAAB 340 plane from IBC Air landed at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, reported the Cuban News Agency (ACN).

Carlos Rodriguez, an inspector from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, ceremonially delivered a letter to Carlos Asensio, president of Correos de Cuba, the state-owned postal company. This letter formally re-initiated the direct sending of letters and parcels between the two countries, and was followed by an exchange of postal seals, specially designed for this occasion.

Correos de Cuba Vice President Zoraya Bravo told ACN that, from March 25, three weekly flights would leave Miami for Havana on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and that all post offices in both countries were now accepting mail to be sent on this route.

Bravo said that this new service would guarantee speedy and secure delivery. The issue of security was of crucial importance to Cuba since a parcel bomb was sent on a direct naval shipment from New York in 1968 and exploded at the Cuban Ministry of Communications.

The restoration of direct postal services was part of the steps laid out by Cuban President Raul Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama to normalize relations.

*Xinhua/NAN