wfn.org | NCCCUSA Letter to President Clinton about Cuba

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Internet: news@ncccusa.org

Contact: Wendy McDowell, NCC, 212-870-2227

4NCC1/8/99   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IN LETTER TO PRESIDENT CLINTON, NCC GENERAL SECRETARY 
WELCOMES OPENING TO CUBA BUT REGRETS REJECTION OF BI-
PARTISAN COMMISSION

 NEW YORK, Jan. 8 ---- In a letter to President 
Clinton, the Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, General 
Secretary of the National Council of Churches, welcomed 
this week's new opening toward Cuba but expressed regret 
that the United States government rejected a Senator's 
recommendation to create a bi-partisan commission.

 While welcoming "the new opening toward Cuba 
announced by your government on January 5, 1999," the 
letter states, "we do not feel that these measures are 
sufficient to resolve the conflict that has divided the 
two nations over the last forty years."  The letter goes 
on to say that "the government of the United States has 
missed a historic opportunity by rejecting the 
recommendations of Senator John W. Warner to create a bi-
partisan commission" which "could have carried out a 
fresh review of a policy that has been demonstrated to be 
ineffective for the past thirty-seven years." 

The letter also emphasizes the role of the Cuban 
churches in constructing and strengthening civil society 
in Cuba.
 
 Over the past six years, the NCC - through its 
Church World Service ministry - has sent more than 40 
shipments of food, medicines, medical equipment, school 
supplies and other goods to Cuba with a market value of 
more than $10 million.  CWS assistance is targeted to the 
most vulnerable members of Cuban society - women, 
children and the elderly.

 The NCC also called repeatedly for the normalization 
of relations between the U.S. and Cuba, including a 
lifting of the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

 The full text of the January 6 letter follows.

********************************************************

January 6, 1999

The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States of America
The White House

Dear Mr. President:

The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA 
(NCCCUSA) welcomes the new opening toward Cuba announced 
by your government on January 5, 1999. 

On several occasions, the NCCCUSA has reiterated -both 
inside and outside of Cuba- the need to strengthen the 
civil society in that country.  We continue to emphasize 
the role of the Cuban Churches in constructing that new 
society.  We wish to affirm Mr. President, that the 
positive change in the space for the Churches was 
obtained through dialogue with the Cuban government.

Nevertheless, we do not feel that these measures are 
sufficient to resolve the conflict that has divided the 
two nations over the last forty years.  We feel that the 
government of the United States has missed a historic 
opportunity by rejecting the recommendations of Senator 
John W. Warner to create a bi-partisan commission.  This 
commission could have carried out a fresh review of a 
policy that has been demonstrated to be ineffective for 
the past thirty-seven years.  This proposal is not only 
supported by both parties, but by broad sectors of the 
civil society in the United States, of which the Church 
is a part.

We leave you with assurances Mr. President, that the 
expression of these concerns is guided by our hope to 
find paths of justice and peace that will lead to 
reconciliation between the people of both countries.  We 
pray that one day this hope will become a reality.

      Grace and Peace

      The Rev. Dr. Joan Brown 
Campbell
      General Secretary 

-end-
 -0-