Cuba Suspends All Mail Service With U.S.

HAVANA, Cuba (CBS4) - In a setback for relations with Cuba, on Friday government officials on the island nation suspended all mail service with the U.S.

"Until further notice, we cannot continue to accept any type of delivery," said Cuba's mail service, Correos de Cuba, in a statement read over state television.

This is not the first time mail service with the U.S. has been disrupted.

Last November package deliveries were suspended following a U.S. decision to increase security measures following last year's failed terror threat involving packages mailed from Yemen.

"I think it has to do with how countries, on a case-by-case basis, are working through new regulations that have been put into effect," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said, a reference to the security measures put in place due to the Yemen incident.

Mail service was also suspended in the 1960s, shortly after Fidel Castro came to power. Limited mail service routed through third countries resumed in 2009, following talks between U.S. and Cuban officials.

Friday's announcement came just days after the Obama Administration announced it was easing travel restrictions on academics and church groups seeking to visit the island.

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