Can you get flights from NY and Miami to Cuba?

[Wagner]

I'm curious....after reading this, I'd like to know the circumstances of those flights.

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Hijacking by army recruits foiled, Cuba says
POSTED: 7:15 p.m. EDT, May 3, 2007
Story Highlights
• Fugitive army recruits try to take plane to U.S., authorities say
• Hostage army officer killed during hijack attempt, ministry says
• Recruits had been subject of manhunt after escaping camp earlier
• Airport shows no signs of trouble hours after incident
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HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- Fugitive army recruits killed a military officer they took hostage early Thursday in a failed attempt to hijack a plane bound for the United States, the Interior Ministry said.

Two of the escaped recruits were arrested after Army Lt. Col. Victor Ibo Acuna Velazquez was killed in the aborted hijacking, a ministry statement said.

The incident began in the pre-dawn hours when the fugitive recruits commandeered a bus carrying several passengers to get to a plane on the tarmac.

"Despite being unarmed, (Acuna) heroically tried to prevent the commission of the terrorist act," the statement said. Others being held hostage on the bus were unharmed, it added.

The two arrested were among three army recruits who escaped from their military base on Sunday after killing a fellow soldier and wounding another before fleeing with automatic rifles. The third was captured earlier, the ministry statement said.

The three had been the focus of a huge manhunt. The Defense Ministry over the weekend distributed circulars around Havana, describing the fugitives as armed and dangerous and saying they were sought for abandoning their posts. Some circulars were displayed in public places, including post offices.

The men, all from the eastern province of Camaguey, were identified as Leandro Cerezo Sirut and Alain Forbus Lameru, both 19, and Yoan Torres Martinez, 21.

Throughout the day Thursday, there were rampant rumors of a shooting at the airport but the Cuban government and its official media were silent.

Later Thursday, all was calm and there was no increased police presence at the airport's Terminal 2, which services charter flights between Havana and Miami.

But something clearly had occurred there earlier in the morning. Several baggage handlers told an Associated Press reporter that police had told them to tell anyone who asked to say that nothing had happened there that morning. Even so, none of them appeared to have heard or seen the pre-dawn incident.

None of the four uniformed police officers approached separately by an AP reporter at Terminal 2 would confirm that anything had occurred there earlier in the day.

Two departures to Miami and one to New York later in the day were listed on time, as were the scheduled arrivals from those cities.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[trueX5er]

Yes, you can go there, but the average Joe can't. You usually need to be with a religous group/Red Cross/UN etc.. It is a charter plane. So if you go to AA.com and try to go to Cuba, you can't.

http://afrocubaweb.com/travelcuba.htm

[Mackskibum]

On a commercial you got to go to Canada first.

[Thunder22]

or to Central America first, and make sure they don't stamp your passport.

[nupe10123]

I think the cheapest waw is to go there through the Dominican Republic, flights from DR were only $80 roundtrip last month. Cuban customs officials do not stamp American passports as a general 'rule'. They having American dollars and understand that they'll loose them if they stamp passports).

I don't believe there are any flights from the US directly to Cuba unless they are sancitioned Military, Humanitarian or political flights.

[Technomage]

Originally Posted by gresch

or to Central America first, and make sure they don't stamp your passport.

I don't get it? Don't they always stamp it?

[tijanaw]

Originally Posted by Technomage

I don't get it? Don't they always stamp it?

They should but because of the embargo, regular American citizens aren't allowed to travel to Cuba for business or pleasure, therefore if you get your passport stamped, it's a $10,000 fine I think, can't remember the details. That's why it's great to have dual citizenship .