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Promoting Normalizing Relations with Cuba and Greater Solidarity with Those in the Cuban Community Seeking Justice and Human Rights
Adopted August 9, 2003
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Background
In March 2003 the Presidents and Executive Directors of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM), the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the Canadian Religious Conference (CRC), and the Conference of Latin American Religious (CLAR) met in Havana, Cuba to express solidarity with the Religious Conference of Cuba and to enter into a dialogue about the reality of Religious Life, the Church, and the daily experience of the Cuban people.
CLAR has asked the Religious of the Americas to give special attention to Cuba because of the oppressive conditions under which the Religious of Cuba are laboring. The Cuban government places many restrictions on religious activity in Cuba. Most activity is limited to providing religious services. In recent years the government has allowed the Church to provide care for the elderly and the handicapped. Churches are not permitted to sponsor educational programs or provide social services. However, religious communities and people of faith are very active in social services, political reform movements, and other activities that address the social, economic and political fabric of Cuban society.
The United States has pursued decades of economic sanctions against Cuba and has succeeded in isolating Cuba from much of the world, giving the current government the opportunity to control almost all aspects of Cuban society. There are only two state-controlled television stations, newspapers are published by the government, and education is controlled by the government and is centered on science and technology. Even arts and culture are strictly regulated by the government. The Committee for the Defense of the Revolution has offices on almost every block, according to our sources, and Cubans are expected to monitor their neighbors and friends. The family structure has been completely destroyed because of government policies that remove children from the family when they are teenagers and place them in group living experiences far from their families, with limited contact with families, and under the supervision of the state, breaking down the traditional family bonds that would normally exist. Economic conditions in Cuba force most people to live at or below poverty level and all consumer goods are scarce. The average person makes $8-20/month. The largest source of income for Cuba is U.S. funds sent to Cuban by family members living in the U.S.
While the United States policy cannot be held responsible for all of the problems facing Cubans, it is obvious that the isolation of Cuba by the U.S. has provided the Cuban government the opportunity to control information and the lives of the Cuban people in ways that would not have been possible had there been normal relations between the two nations. Most Cubans said that one of the most devastating effects of the embargo has not been the economic factors, but the intellectual and cultural poverty caused by the lack of contact between Cubans and the world community.
Several reform movements have emerged in Cuba. The most prominent is the Varela Project, founded by Oswaldo Paya. The Project is calling on the Cuban government to permit greater freedom of association and speech and to permit a plurality of political parties to develop and participate in the political process in Cuba. Over 20,000 Cubans have publicly endorsed the Project, at great risk to their freedom and security. Several, including Paya have experienced increased harassment and dozens have been arrested. Since March the Cuban government has launched a new crackdown on dissidents. Many have already been tried for their activities and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Three have been executed, ending one of the longest moratoriums on the use of the death penalty in the Americas.
The Religious of Cuba and those involved in the social and political reform movements who met with the Presidents and Executive Directors expressed the need for greater solidarity and increased communication with the Cuban people and advocating for changes in U.S. policy that continues to isolate Cuba from the rest of the world.
Resolution
Responding to the requests of the Religious in Cuba, those working for reform, and mindful of the renewed crackdown on dissidents and some significant developments in the U.S., the Conference of Major Superiors of Men resolves:
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To use the corporate voice of CMSM to support movements to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba, including the easing of the embargo, leading to an end of the economic embargo. Legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress that promotes freedom of travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens including cultural and educational exchanges and lifting the economic sanctions and permit trade between the countries would be consistent with CMSM policy and would be supported and endorsed. |
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To support the work of reform movements in Cuba, particularly the Varela Project, that encourage greater freedom of association, speech, and activity of alternative political parties by maintaining contact with leaders in the reform movements and raising the awareness of the movements among Religious and the general population in the U.S. |
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To maintain contact with the Cuban Religious Conference and the Conference of Latin American Religious through correspondence and exchange programs (when possible), providing an on-going dialogue about religious life to strengthen understanding among the conferences and to encourage the work of religious communities under difficult conditions. |
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To raise the awareness of conditions in Cuba, particularly human rights abuses, the repression of individuals and organizations, the limitations placed on the Church and civil society by disseminating information received from our partners in Cuba and CLAR and other sources through our own publications and in other publications and services. |
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To establish relations with Cuban-American organizations to collaborate on effective and appropriate programs to raise the awareness of human rights abuses in Cuba and address U.S. policy toward Cuba. |
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