In his speech, Castro recalled advances the two countries have made since December 17 past year when he and U.S. President Barack Obama announced they would seek to normalize ties and set aside decades of Cold War-era hostilities.
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The Stars and Stripes has since flown from the new U.S. embassy in Havana and bars and hotels in the city have been full.
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“Regarding what I just said, I’d like to recall that Cuba has always said … it is not going to negotiate matters that are inherent to its internal system in exchange for an improvement in or the normalization of relations with the United States”, Vidal said.
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According to Washington Post, Obama said in a statement that both governments are moving forward on common interests, working on complex issues that for a long time have divided them.
However, Washington will maintain a ban on touristic activities to Cuba.
There will likely be a process that could last up to 90 days during which American-based carriers will submit proposed routes, suggesting scheduled flights would not begin until the first few months of 2016 at the earliest.
Travel isn’t everything, but it’s hard to overestimate its importance in the context of U.S.-Cuba relations.
“We intend to continue to be the largest carrier between the United States and Cuba”, he later said.
American Airlines praised the decision and expressed interest in adding more flights to Cuba. He became the first US secretary of state to visit the island in 70 years.
USA and Cuban officials reached an agreement this week to allow for regularly scheduled air travel between the two nations.
“In the past year, the two countries have forged agreements on combating narco-trafficking, preserving the environment and reestablishing direct mail”.
Regarding the United States economic embargo on the communist island, although Obama has taken executive action to ease travel restrictions and some commercial transactions, the complete lifting of the embargo may only be done by Congress, which at present is controlled by the Republicans, a majority of whom are against eliminating it.
American said it will operate about 1,200 charter flights to Cuba this year, which is up 9 percent from those in 2014.
There will be some delay until travelers can book commercial flights to Cuba.
Cuba’s embassy in Washington said in a statement on the airline deal that the countries reiterated their commitment to flight security and to protecting civil aviation “from acts of unlawful interference”.
Although U.S. airlines have been salivating at the prospect of being able to offer commercial flights to Cuba, Foxx said Friday that it will be several months before any boarding calls begin.
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Vidal said much of the blame lay with the Obama administration’s unwillingness, so far, to take bolder steps to loosen the US trade embargo on Cuba.
