US and Cuba to resume regular flights

The U.S. and Cuba reached an agreement last night to resume commercial flights between the two countries for the first time in over 50 years, according to the State Department and Cuba officials. USA Today noted that the schedule will include 20 flights a day between the United States and Havana, and 10 a day between the U.S. and nine other global airports spread across the island.

The U.S. has expressed disappointment with what it calls Cuba’s unwillingness to cooperate with executive actions such as allowing U.S. exports to the Cuban private sector and sales of equipment to the Cuban state telecommunications company. Proper visas will still be required. Now charter flights (including American Airlines charters) are the only way to fly between the two countries, but commercial flights are set to resume under a new aviation agreement.

On Thursday, the players made their second and final visit to a ballpark, traveling outside of Havana to one of the cradles of baseball in Cuba – Matanzas. That has led to a boom in US citizens’ visits to Cuba, which are up 71 percent this year, with 138,120 Americans arriving over the first 11 months.

As a result, analysts like Smith say they expect “official” change to continue slowly – even as a transformation in the relationship between the two countries accelerates as “people-to-people” contacts expand.

Thomas Engle, the deputy assistant secretary for transportation affairs, tells the AP the deal doesn’t anticipate flights to the U.S.by Cuba’s national airline. He was the top US diplomat in Cuba for three years, “Everything from my perspective has either been the same or gotten worse”.

Kavulich said a flood of US visitors might be “disruptive” to Cuba’s one-party political system, but stressed that the Cuban government needs the revenue.

On Thursday, Obama said human rights were a priority and the two governments were working through their differences.

The agreement comes on the anniversary of the announcement that the USA and Cuba would restore diplomatic relations after decades of hostility. The Obama Administration’s removal of Cuba from the State Department’s list as a state sponsor of terrorism, manipulation of the facts regarding human trafficking to aid the Castros and neglecting Cuba’s valiant pro-democracy movement are just a few of the highlights of Obama’s shameful policy.

The U.S. Department of State announced last week that the U.S. and Cuba had “reached an understanding” to re-establish direct mail services between the two countries. But Americans interested in traveling to Cuba for a pleasant, island getaway will still need to meet one of 12 criteria, such as being Cuban-American or partaking in educational tours or journalistic activity, according to Reuters. As they raised their signs in the nation’s capitol, many are also raising their voices in South Florida.

Flights to Cuba could begin within months.