US scraps flights to nine Cuban destinations, adding to list of punishing sanctions

Starting Tuesday, it will be even harder for Americans to visit Cuba as a Trump administration mandate to US airlines to cut flights to nine destinations on the island takes effect. Only US flights to Cuba's capital Havana won't be canceled. The measure, which was announced in October, adds to an increasing list of punishing sanctions meted out to Cuba. The Trump administration has called on the Cuban government to hold multi-party elections, stop harassing political opponents and end support to the Maduro regime in Venezuela. US officials say they are cancelling the flights to deprive the Cuban military, which oversees much of the island's tourism industry, of badly needed income. Still, the measure will largely impact Cuban-Americans who take the direct flights to visit family on the island, often over the holidays. The administration has tightened restrictions on Americans traveling to the island, banned US cruise ships from visiting, opened the way for people who lost property after the Cuban revolution to sue foreign companies in US courts for using those assets, and sanctioned ships bringing oil from socialist ally Venezuela to Cuba.<br/>