Three Baptist groups are among 20 U.S.-based church bodies urging President Joe Biden to make major changes in bilateral relations with Cuba, including its removal from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List at the U.S. Department of State.
In a letter dated May 9, the Alliance of Baptists, American Baptist Home Mission Societies and Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America joined 17 other church-based entities in condemning the listing of Cuba as one of only four nations currently so designated. The listing is a major factor in the Caribbean country’s rapidly accelerating economic crisis.
“We write to express our deep concern regarding the plight of the Cuban people,” the letter states. “The combined effects of failed U.S. foreign policies and Cuban economic policies have created dire humanitarian conditions on the island.”
Among these are widespread shortages of food and medicine, as well as a critical lack of energy resulting in near-daily power outages across Cuba. Hospitals are in special need of relief, as medical supplies of all kinds are critically short.
Since 2021, more than 500,000 Cubans have sought refuge in the U.S., a figure approximating 5% of the island nation’s population.
In addition, economic desperation has been a major factor in a recent and unprecedented surge in migration from Cuba to other countries. While these include Spain and other nations in Spanish-speaking Latin America, far and away the principal destination has been the United States. Since 2021, more than 500,000 Cubans have sought refuge in the U.S., a figure approximating 5% of the island nation’s population.
The decision to list Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, the religious bodies’ letter states, “was a gross mistake and has had a hugely detrimental effect on the Cuban people and the ability of our partners to serve them.” More specifically, the listing “has led banks, financial institutions and international suppliers to withdraw support for regular trade and collaboration with religious groups providing humanitarian aid to Cuba.
“As a result, the ability of our denominations and faith-based organizations to offer crucial assistance and financial aid to Cuban partners has been severely limited, with financial institutions freezing funds allocated for religious and humanitarian activities.”
Cuba was first added to the list in 1982 by the Reagan administration for alleged ties to terrorist groups elsewhere in Latin America. Under the law mandating the State Department to maintain such a listing, no requirement exists to revisit the designation, and Cuba remained on the list until May 2015 following a review ordered by President Barack Obama. Shortly thereafter, Obama used executive order authority to normalize diplomatic relations with the island nation.
After Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, Cuba was relisted as a state sponsor of terrorism, a designation the Biden administration thus far has chosen not to review.
In the letter to Biden last week, the 20 religious bodies also ask the president to take additional actions aimed at relieving Cuba’s sinking economy.
“The current U.S. policy of strangling Cuban society with an economic embargo to force them to overthrow their government is morally unacceptable and antithetical to our faith, as well as (to) basic human rights principles,” the letter declares.
“We urge you to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list and take steps toward ending the economic embargo and normalizing relations with Cuba. Let us stand together to relieve the suffering of the Cuban people, help them to prosper in their own country, and seek to include them fully in the family of nations.”
In addition to the Baptist bodies who signed on to the letter, other signers included the National Council of Churches, Church World Service, Pax Christi USA, Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), United Methodist Church, Mennonite Central Committee U.S., Friends Committee on National Legislation, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Church of the Brethren.
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