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Talks with U.S. to resume postal service are "satisfactory": Cuba

Other News Materials 20 June 2013 06:29 (UTC +04:00)
The Cuban authorities said Wednesday that the talks with Washington on resuming direct postal service between the United States and the island country were "satisfactory.", Xinhua reported.
Talks with U.S. to resume postal service are "satisfactory": Cuba

The Cuban authorities said Wednesday that the talks with Washington on resuming direct postal service between the United States and the island country were "satisfactory.", Xinhua reported.

An official statement released here said the talks between Cuban and U.S. postal officials held in Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday were "fruitful," but it held the service would probably be less than smooth given the ongoing U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

The goal of the meeting was to pinpoint the difficulties affecting the normalization of postal exchange between the island country and its northern neighbor, which have been routing mail and packages through third countries for some 50 years.

However, the Cuban authorities stressed that "progress toward the implementation of a stable postal service, of excellence and international standards, between the two countries would not be possible while having the obstacles of the U.S. economic, financial and trade blockade."

Both delegations agreed to continue talks over the coming months.

These are the first talks on the postal issue since earlier talks held in Havana in September 2009. The bilateral dialogue was interrupted after the arrest of U.S. contractor Alan Gross three months later on charges of subversion.

The Cuban delegation was led by the head of Cuba's Interests Section in Washington, Jose Ramon Cabanas, while the U.S. one was headed by Lea Emerson, executive director of International Affairs at the U.S. Postal Service.

Washington broke off diplomatic ties with Havana in 1961, imposed the embargo a year later and in 1963 suspended direct mail service. U.S. citizens can only send mail to Cuba through third countries with restrictions.

The two countries are also scheduled to hold talks on the immigration issues on July 17 in Washington

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