Obama says US, Cuba continue to have differences

More Americans are traveling to Cuba – although the embargo still prevents them from visiting the island (and spending money) simply as tourists.

Significant progress has been made towards restoring scheduled passenger flights between the Cold War foes since then, however a formal deal has yet to be reached.

The new aviation arraignment was announced on the anniversary of President Barack Obama telling the nation that diplomatic relations would be re-established with Cuba following a half-century of hostility.

The U.S. Department of State did announce today an agreement to resume commercial air flights between Cuba and the United States. The new agreement is expected to increase travel between the two countries: there are already some charter flights run by American carriers traveling between the two countries but concrete exchange has been limited thus far. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, in a statement Thursday.

While U.S. officials still criticize Cuba for human rights, they now believe promoting political and other freedoms is more likely to be achieved through engagement.

Flights to Cuba could begin within months.

Until Congress decides otherwise, US citizens and permanent residents are prohibited from traveling to Cuba for the sole objective of basking on a beach and drinking daiquiris.

“We continue to have differences with the Cuban government, but we raise those issues directly, and we will always stand for human rights and the universal values that we support around the globe”, Obama said in a statement. And despite USA carriers are willing to open scheduled service to Cuba, it is unclear when these would actually resume as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires to verify that safety regulations in Cuban airports are duly in place.

In a rare broadcast of his speech on state television, the 84-year-old leader said, “Cuba will continue insisting that to achieve the normalization of relations it is imperative that the government of the United States remove all policies of the past”. It was also not yet clear how many USA flights will be allowed into Cuba.

But the current American diplomat, who’s in charge of the embassy in Havana right now, said they are making progress along the Cuban streets, but it’s going to take some time. Commercial airline companies will have to file for permission from the US authorities to start operating on certain routes. The terminal at Jose Martí International Airport where the chartered US planes land is relatively small so there are some physical limitations to the amount of commercial flights that can be scheduled.