US approves more airports for Cuba flights

CMC

Friday, March 11, 2011

WASHINGTON, USA (CMC) — The United States has approved eight more airports for charter flights to and from Cuba, permitting more Cuban Americans to travel to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean country.

Obama administration officials said the airports include Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson, the world's busiest, and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

The other airports approved include those in Baltimore, Maryland; Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Tampa, Florida; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Prior to Wednesday's decision, flights to Cuba were only allowed from Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; and New York.

The expanded flights are in keeping with President Barack Obama's decision, announced earlier this year, to further reach out to the Cuban people.

"As Hartsfield-Jackson is the largest hub in the United States, this new service will allow tens of thousands of Cuban Americans across the country to easily reunite with their friends and families, whom they may not have seen for many years," Louis Miller, aviation general manager at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, told reports.

The expanded flights also come as the United States awaits a verdict in the case of an American government contractor charged with crimes against the Cuban state.

The argument phase of the trial of Alan Gross, 61, ended last Saturday, and Cuban officials said the verdict is expected in the coming days. If convicted Gross faces up to 20 years in prison.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called on Cuban authorities to release Gross unconditionally.

Gross' continued detention comes at a time when Obama has pledged to open new channels of engagement with the Cuban people.

Even after Gross's arrest, however, Obama continued with his policy of engagement, lifting limits on remittances for people with relatives on the island and loosening restrictions on travel for scholars, artists and business groups.

On Monday, Obama reversed his two-year-old order halting new military charges against detainees at Guantanamo Bay, permitting military trials to resume.

Obama said the trials will resume with "revamped procedures," implicitly admitting the failure of his campaign pledge to close the prison camp.

The president, however, said he remains committed to closing Guantanamo someday and to charging some terrorism suspects in civilian criminal courts.