Today, for the first time in over 50 years, a scheduled flight arrived in Cuba from the United States. The historic flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Santa Clara, Cuba builds on the President's promise to reengage with Cuba -- arriving just one year after President Obama formally re-established relations between the United States and Cuba.
The goal of the President's policy with Cuba is simple: to improve the lives of Cubans and to advance the interests of the United States. The President fundamentally believes that the best way to achieve that goal is by facilitating more interaction between the Cuban and American people, including through travel and commercial opportunities, and through more access to information, which culminated in the President’s recent trip to Cuba.
Scheduled flights between the U.S. and Cuba enable a new level of convenience for passengers to book travel directly and further enhances the ability for Cubans and Americans to engage directly. This flight is an example of progress that has been made in the normalization process between our two nations and will continue to advance the President’s policy.
Watch today's flight arrive in Cuba:
Today the 1st commercial flight in ↑ 50 years flew from Ft Lauderdale, FL to Santa Clara, Cuba. Good work, @USDOT! https://t.co/Sx72BCkOln
— Ben Rhodes (@rhodes44) August 31, 2016