• Submitted by: Camila
• Business and Economy
• 03 / 04 / 2015

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Amazon.com Inc. appears to be preparing to send packages to Cuba, less than three months after officials in Washington and Havana agreed to restore diplomatic ties.

Reuters correspondents in Havana on Monday saw a button "send to Cuba" on the Amazon website. But the choice does not seem to work and reporters received an error message when they tried to order an item and request entry into the island.

"Because the laws and regulations of export controls and economic sanctions, we can not process the transaction from its current location," Amazon said in the message. In the Amazon site in the United States, from San Francisco, that option was not available.

It was unclear when Amazon, the largest online retailer in the US, could start sending goods to Cuba. Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Logistics experts, however, said that the appearance of the option suggests the company is working on it.

"It probably means they're doing tests," said Rob Howard, CEO of Grand Junction logistics company, based in San Francisco. "Amazon will launch new services often without much fanfare, preferring to solve their defects first with a test among a small group of users," he added.

Officials from the United States and Cuba have held two rounds of negotiations after December 17 announcement that they would work to restore diplomatic ties, interrupted more than 50 years. Cuba has also indicated its willingness to achieve faster progress.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has family ties with Cuba. His adoptive father, Miguel Bezos, was born on the island and came to America when he was 15.

Source: Martí Noticias