The economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba limits money orders and the parcel service on the island, said today the First Deputy Minister of Communications, Wilfredo Gonzalez.
The refusal to sign with the Antillean nation the Post Office-Money Order Agreement, sponsored by the Universal Postal Union and the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal, limits the right of people to send financial aid to relatives and friends in Cuba, said the official.
In statements to the Cuban News Agency (ACN), Gonzalez stressed that in addition to the effects and inconveniences that this generates in the population, the Grupo Empresarial Correos de Cuba (GECC) loses an estimated income of more than 50 million dollars for this reason.
González said that since the arbitrary inclusion of this Caribbean nation in the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, the U.S. postal service is prevented from processing Universal Postal Service shipments directly to the island, as well as EMS (express courier service).
He also recalled that to guarantee the service of international money orders, which has been provided since 2011, Correos de Cuba has agreements with the postal operators of Spain, Chile, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru and Panama.
This company, as the postal operator designated by the Cuban State, through its Empresa de Mensajería y Cambio Internacional (EMCI), provides import and export services for international mail and postal packages.
It also provides courier and express courier services, as well as customs and freight forwarding services, José Manuel Valido, director of Institutional Communications of the GECC, told ACN.