The president of the Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services (Conviasa), Ramón Celestino Velásquez, reported through his Twitter account that the company will link Havana with the state of Falcón, in the northwest of the South American country.

He indicated that these commercial flights will allow “to consolidate integration, cultural, commercial and tourist exchange between two sister peoples. Let’s keep moving forward!” he pointed out.

According to the audiovisual that accompanies the tweet, Conviasa will leave Falcón every Saturday at 11:00 a.m., local time, with scheduled arrival in the Cuban capital at 2:00 p.m.

The return will be with departure from the José Martí international airport in Havana at 10:00 local time, and arrival in Venezuela at 1:00 p.m.

(Taken from Latin Press)

This morning there was an impact on the technological systems that support the passenger check-in service, causing delays in the process by having to use alternative manual methods. Under these conditions, most of the planned flights were carried out, except for some operations that were canceled by decision of the airlines and the affected passengers have received the attention established for these cases.

At the time this note was written, the check-up system was restored, providing the service as normal. The rest of the systems have not been affected.

(With information from ECASA)

The entity detailed through a statement released by the Russian Tour Operators Agency that the program of flights with tourist packages is organized in association with the airline Nordwind Airlines.

He also added that the destination of the Cuban resort of Varadero will be the first to be available to vacationers from the Eurasian nation, with a frequency of four per week, on the Moscow-Varadero route served by Boeing-777-300ER aircraft, with estimated travel time of 13 hours.

Likewise, the flight program to Cayo Coco is scheduled to start on October 2 with a frequency of three times a week.

For his part, the Minister of Tourism of the Cuban embassy in Moscow, Juan Carlos Escalona, ​​explained that the authorities of the leisure industry of the Caribbean island await the resumption of the flight programs of other Russian airlines.

In this sense, he recalled that the Antillean Government guarantees the airlines of the Slavic country the inviolability of their aircraft.

“We really hope that other tour operators and airlines will follow the example of Pegas Touristik and Nordwind Airlines. Cuba is ready for the return of Russian tourists,” the official stressed.

Escalona added that before the end of the year, Havana will complete the necessary procedures for the acceptance and service of Russian Mir cards. “Cuban and Russian experts are in active contact on this issue,” he assured.

The diplomat reported that a delegation headed by the Cuban Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García, will arrive in Moscow in mid-September to participate in the International Exhibition Forum on Leisure Tourism 2022.

He added that the event will be the appropriate setting to present the # CubaÚnica campaign, which aims to create demand and offer travel agents general information that guarantees knowledge about the tourist destinations of the largest island of the Antilles.

In addition, update the entire sales network about news, attractions, new places of interest, services and activities for the client.

The initiative also seeks to promote the tourism product of the different regions of the island and fundamentally promote Havana, the keys, eastern Cuba and legendary cities.

(With information from Prensa Latina)

We can say that Cuba and the United States have made progress in their relations, with a marked difference from the preceding stage, Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, Ministry of Foreign Relations director general for the United States, stated this Wednesday, December 16, in Havana.

Vidal announced that the delegations from the two countries meeting in Washington since December 14 to negotiate issues regarding civil aviation, have made significant progress and are close to reaching a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of regular flights.

Should this new agreement come to be, it would add to those already reached regarding environmental protection, marine protected areas, and direct mail.

Shortly before the first anniversary of the announcements made on December 17, 2014, by Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro regarding the decision to restore relations, Vidal said that there has been important progress in the political and diplomatic fields.

She referred to the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, the reopening of embassies and the removal of the island from the unilateral list of countries sponsoring terrorism. She also highlighted the personal meetings between the leaders of Cuba and the United States as well as that of Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

She noted that already existing cooperation in traditional areas has been expanded, such as search and rescue and the fight against drug trafficking and migration; while new areas have opened such as port maritime security, application and enforcement of the law and health.

The Cuban diplomat preferred not to reveal anything regarding the upcoming topics to be discussed, but said there was a “wide range” of options and many plans for the following year.

“The key to the successof this processisrespectand treatmentas equals,” Vidal stressed.

A LOT MORE TO DO

The Cuban diplomat noted that in the economic-commercial area, the results are barely visible. Many of the measures implemented so far in this field are positive but are limited in scope. They also include elements that make their implementation impossible.

She recalled that the U.S president has broad powers to change the situation and could “expand the scope of these measures or take others.”

She specifically noted that Obama could allow Cuba to use the dollar in international transactions, access private credit and permit trade in both directions, and not unilaterally as has been the case to date.

She added that no progress has been made this year on key issues for normalized relations, such as an end to the blockade, the return of the territory illegally occupied in Guantánamo, the end of subversive programs and illegal broadcasting, and the continued preferential migratory policy toward Cubans that encourages illegal migration.

Regarding the context within the U.S. Congress during the past year, she noted the visible existence of bipartisan support for change, as expressed by the delegations that have visited Cuba in increasing numbers.

She highlighted that this Wednesday, December 16, a working group composed of Democrats and Republicans to advance the rapprochement with Cuba was created, with a dozen members.

A MODEL FOR CIVILIZED COEXISTENCE

In response to a question from the press, Vidal also referred to recent statements by Barack Obama to Yahoo News regarding a possible trip to the island before the end of his term in office.

“The day the president decides to come to Cuba, he will be welcome,” she said.

However, she added that Cuba has always been clear that issues inherent to the domestic law of the country are not up for negotiation in exchange for the normalization of relations with Washington.

We do not demand that things we do not like about the United States be changed in order for us to speak with or visit the country.

Countries may have differing opinions about what happens in the other, but that can not be used as leverage to achieve certain changes, she stressed.

Vidal concluded that “even with the differences that exist between our countries, better links will only bring benefits to both countries and their peoples. We really believe that a model of civilized coexistence is the best contribution that we can leave the present and future generations of Cuba, the U.S. and the entire region.”