Cuba Suspends Operations of Two Miami Travel Agencies
HAVANA TIMES — Cuban authorities decided to suspend, beginning November 27, the operating permits for charter flights to the island under Airline Brokers and C & T Charters, reported Café Fuerte website.
The decision was announced by the Havanatur Celimar company. Sources linked to the industry commented that the order could be related to overdue tax payments and other obligations on the part of the agencies, which are among the most important of their kind in southern Florida.
In a statement posted on the website of Airline Brokers, owner Vivian Mannerud described the suspension to be the result of a “re-evaluation of flights in the market, and other issues.”
Airline Brokers and C & T Charters are the only US companies that organize special visits to the island.
Perhaps!! ?? Or perhaps the owners of the US companies chose to avoid paying the full taxes to Cuba for the use of Cuban facilities and for the right to earn great amounts of money from these flights, which take on added value because the US denies ordinary travel between Cuba and the US … more correctly denies the “freedom” of its citizens to freely travel to Cuba. Perhaps you should consider the realities that you choose to ignore.
Perhaps the regime officials attempted a shake-down? And when the agencies refused to pay the required bribes the authorities shut down their operations.
The only real holiday that Cuban families celebrate all year is “Fin de Ano” or New Years. Cubans who live abroad often save their money all year long to afford to travel to Cuba to spend yearend with their families. They bring with them the much-awaited clothes and electronics that are not available or affordable in Cuba. Suspending the two charter airlines who bring the majority of these Cubans from Miami to Cuba could not have come at a more inopportune time for Cubans. Recently, the Castros raised tariffs on food brought to Cuba . Unwittingly, this was followed by Hurricane Sandy which destroyed a large percentage of the food crops grown in Cuba. After that the Castros raised tariffs on the overwieght luggage that visitors bring to Cuba, further limiting Cubans ability to receive help from abroad. Now these airline suspensions just before yearend. The Castros don’t need the US embargo to hurt Cubans. They seem to be able to do a good job of hurting themsleves all by themself.