July 20, 2006 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Several prominent religious coalitions have sharply criticized new plans by the Bush administration to further restrict humanitarian shipments to Cuba, saying they violate religious freedom.
President Bush this month endorsed a report proposing to require U.S. groups to distribute humanitarian exports other than food or medicine through “entities that support independent civil society.” They would be barred from shipping such goods to “regime controlled” organizations, which it said includes the Cuban Council of Churches.
That drew fire from Church World Service, the international relief arm of 35 Christian organizations, which said it would pressure Congress to block the plans and was considering a lawsuit. “It is not appropriate for the U.S. government to choose who our ecumenical partners are,” said Martin Shupack, the organization’s associate director for public policy.
The new restriction was included in a report by a committee overseen by the State Department that outlines fresh measures designed to cripple President Fidel Castro’s communist government and help the Cuban people bring democracy to the island.
One of its main recommendations is to spend $80-million in 2007 and 2008 to support pro-democracy groups, educational programs, and broadcasting and Internet projects.
“These recommendations reflect American resolve to keep pace with Cuba’s brave opposition leaders,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez said in a statement.
The report reaffirmed earlier administration moves to sharply restrict travel to Cuba, saying they have curtailed the government from “profiteering from U.S. humanitarian policies.” The restrictions attempt to deny revenue to the Castro government, but many nonprofit groups have criticized them for hampering their educational, environmental, humanitarian, and religious activities.
The National Council of Churches USA also criticized the new restriction on working with the Cuban Council of Churches, which unites the island’s mainline Protestant denominations.
The government should not “restrict or deny Christian fellowship and humanitarian assistance to any particular national church council, including the Cuban Council of Churches,” the group said in a letter to President Bush.
It said it was worried that although the new measure allows exceptions for food and medicine, it would not allow religious organizations to work with the Cuban council to distribute other items such as blankets that might be needed if hurricanes strike.
Caleb McCarry, the State Department’s Cuba transition coordinator, told reporters that the administration wanted to “focus attention on support for independent organizations and activity on the island.”
