Bush report may ban aid and church relations with Cuba

-03/07/06

The US-based internat


Bush report may ban aid and church relations with Cuba

-03/07/06

The US-based international humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) is alarmed about the recommendations in an advance draft of a new report by the Bush Administrationís Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba – which CWS says would end its ability to provide basic relief aid to people in need in the island nation and seriously hamper religious freedom.

Mainstream churches in the USA wish to see better relations with Cuba and an end to United States sanctions, convinced that this is the best mutual way to further the interests of social justice, human rights and the role of the churches there.

A draft copy of the report was supplied to Church World Service, the ecumenical relief and development body related to the National Council of Churches USA, over the weekend.

It is expected that the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, chaired by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and co-chaired by Secretary of Commerce George Gutierrez, will officially present its new report to President Bush next week.

ìIf the recommendations contained within this report are accepted by President George Bush and put into effect by the Commerce Department, it is likely that we will no longer be allowed to provide humanitarian aid through the Cuban Council of Churches, our agencyís partner in Cuba for 60 years,î said CWS Executive Director the Rev John L. McCullough.

In addition to protesting an effective ban on the international agencyís ability to deliver relief aid in Cuba, CWS is decrying the reportís limits on religious freedom. ìChurch World Service would view any resulting regulations indicated in this report as unwarranted incursions into religious freedom by the Bush administration,î said McCullough.

He continued: ìThe report is an assault on ecumenical relations not only in Cuba but internationally and sets a dangerous precedent. This tries to dictate the very ways in which we deliver humanitarian aid to people who need it. If the way we provide aid can be curtailed in Cuba, our relief and response work could be threatened anywhere else.î

One of the report recommendations is to ìTighten regulations for the export of humanitarian items, other than agricultural or medical commodities, to ensure that exports are consigned t o entities that support independent civil society and are not regime administered or controlled organizations, such as the Cuban Council of Churches.î

CWSís McCullough noted: ìIt is chilling that the Cuban Council of Churches is mentioned by name and as an example of a ëregime-controlledí organization. Depending on how the regulations are written, food, medicine and medical equipment ? some of CWS?s main shipments to the island nation – might be exempted from this provision, but we wouldn’t count on it.î

ìOther humanitarian items, such as blankets, school kits and sewing supplies, and any other non-food and medicine aid will certainly be off-limits to the CCC. And this, when before us is predicted one of the worst hurricane seasons ever,î he said.

McCullough and other ecumenical representatives have been trying to meet with Mr Thomas Shannon, the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, but so far Thomas has not responded positively.

ìEcumenical bodies have a right to determine their partners and to relate internationally,î McCullough said. ìThis raises grave concerns apart from the politics of US-Cuban relations.î

Parts of the report also refer to new restrictions on travel to and from Cuba, which Church World Service has been advocating against since early this year when McCullough addressed proposed travel restrictions at a gathering of members of Congress and officials at the Departments of State and Treasury.

In that address, McCullough noted that, ìSince the late 1940s CWS has engaged with an ecumenical partner in Cuba that enables us to work cooperatively. We have no doubt that the Cuban Council of Churches is an authentic Christian expression. Our hope is that faith will not be manipulated as a tool of international diplomacy.î

An ecumenical humanitarian agency such as Church World Service is a cooperative effort. CWS represents 35 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican denominations in the United States which themselves represent tens of millions of members in their respective local churches.

ìTo hinder this activity is to strike at the heart of our religious identity and freedom. Religious freedom was a key principle to the founders of the American Republic,î says Martin Shupack, associate director for Church World Service public policy.

Since 2004, the current US administration has taken a series of actions to limit travel to Cuba by scientists, academic researchers, students, Cuban-Americans wishing to visit family members, and now national religious bodies.

[Also on Ekklesia: US Cuba travel ban violates religious freedom, say agencies; US Anglicans seek to end Cuban isolation; Christians face jail after President’s call to visit Guant·namo; US Presbyterians call an end to Cuba travel restrictions; Bishop urges Bush to allow help for Cuba; Catholic Worker plans Guantanamo protests over Lent; US in talks to close Guantanamo Bay; Axis of evil offers to come to America’s rescue; Christians told of Guantanamo Bay hunger strike; Ecumenists seek to recover evangelistic emphasis, Cuban WCC secretary says]


Bush report may ban aid and church relations with Cuba

-03/07/06

The US-based international humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) is alarmed about the recommendations in an advance draft of a new report by the Bush Administrationís Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba – which CWS says would end its ability to provide basic relief aid to people in need in the island nation and seriously hamper religious freedom.

Mainstream churches in the USA wish to see better relations with Cuba and an end to United States sanctions, convinced that this is the best mutual way to further the interests of social justice, human rights and the role of the churches there.

A draft copy of the report was supplied to Church World Service, the ecumenical relief and development body related to the National Council of Churches USA, over the weekend.

It is expected that the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, chaired by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and co-chaired by Secretary of Commerce George Gutierrez, will officially present its new report to President Bush next week.

ìIf the recommendations contained within this report are accepted by President George Bush and put into effect by the Commerce Department, it is likely that we will no longer be allowed to provide humanitarian aid through the Cuban Council of Churches, our agencyís partner in Cuba for 60 years,î said CWS Executive Director the Rev John L. McCullough.

In addition to protesting an effective ban on the international agencyís ability to deliver relief aid in Cuba, CWS is decrying the reportís limits on religious freedom. ìChurch World Service would view any resulting regulations indicated in this report as unwarranted incursions into religious freedom by the Bush administration,î said McCullough.

He continued: ìThe report is an assault on ecumenical relations not only in Cuba but internationally and sets a dangerous precedent. This tries to dictate the very ways in which we deliver humanitarian aid to people who need it. If the way we provide aid can be curtailed in Cuba, our relief and response work could be threatened anywhere else.î

One of the report recommendations is to ìTighten regulations for the export of humanitarian items, other than agricultural or medical commodities, to ensure that exports are consigned t o entities that support independent civil society and are not regime administered or controlled organizations, such as the Cuban Council of Churches.î

CWSís McCullough noted: ìIt is chilling that the Cuban Council of Churches is mentioned by name and as an example of a ëregime-controlledí organization. Depending on how the regulations are written, food, medicine and medical equipment ? some of CWS?s main shipments to the island nation – might be exempted from this provision, but we wouldn’t count on it.î

ìOther humanitarian items, such as blankets, school kits and sewing supplies, and any other non-food and medicine aid will certainly be off-limits to the CCC. And this, when before us is predicted one of the worst hurricane seasons ever,î he said.

McCullough and other ecumenical representatives have been trying to meet with Mr Thomas Shannon, the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, but so far Thomas has not responded positively.

ìEcumenical bodies have a right to determine their partners and to relate internationally,î McCullough said. ìThis raises grave concerns apart from the politics of US-Cuban relations.î

Parts of the report also refer to new restrictions on travel to and from Cuba, which Church World Service has been advocating against since early this year when McCullough addressed proposed travel restrictions at a gathering of members of Congress and officials at the Departments of State and Treasury.

In that address, McCullough noted that, ìSince the late 1940s CWS has engaged with an ecumenical partner in Cuba that enables us to work cooperatively. We have no doubt that the Cuban Council of Churches is an authentic Christian expression. Our hope is that faith will not be manipulated as a tool of international diplomacy.î

An ecumenical humanitarian agency such as Church World Service is a cooperative effort. CWS represents 35 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican denominations in the United States which themselves represent tens of millions of members in their respective local churches.

ìTo hinder this activity is to strike at the heart of our religious identity and freedom. Religious freedom was a key principle to the founders of the American Republic,î says Martin Shupack, associate director for Church World Service public policy.

Since 2004, the current US administration has taken a series of actions to limit travel to Cuba by scientists, academic researchers, students, Cuban-Americans wishing to visit family members, and now national religious bodies.

[Also on Ekklesia: US Cuba travel ban violates religious freedom, say agencies; US Anglicans seek to end Cuban isolation; Christians face jail after President’s call to visit Guant·namo; US Presbyterians call an end to Cuba travel restrictions; Bishop urges Bush to allow help for Cuba; Catholic Worker plans Guantanamo protests over Lent; US in talks to close Guantanamo Bay; Axis of evil offers to come to America’s rescue; Christians told of Guantanamo Bay hunger strike; Ecumenists seek to recover evangelistic emphasis, Cuban WCC secretary says]