A New-Found Hope for the Cuban People


December 17, 2014

This piece originally appeared in The Hill, published December 17, 2014 at 4:30 p.m. at http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/227476-a-new-found-hope-for-the-cuban-people.

President Obama is to be strongly commended for the breakthrough effort to restore U.S. diplomatic ties with Cuba. It is a bold but necessary move and one that, based on my experience talking with members of Congress and the administration, many have long supported privately but have been reluctant to go public about.

One reason for that private support has been the persistent efforts of the U.S. faith community – for decades now – to end the impasse between the two countries. It is heartening to hear that Pope Francis was a key player in the recent efforts to bring President Obama and President Raúl Castro of Cuba together.

But let’s be clear: the ongoing work of U.S. churches, faith groups and humanitarian organizations also helped lay the groundwork for today’s announcement. Our message has been consistent and in last two years these efforts have only intensified.

The church has been a bridge between the two countries in normalizing relations. As Reinerio Arce, moderator of the Presbyterian Churches in Cuba and president of the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Matanzas, Cuba, said earlier this year: “Our peoples have never felt enmity and I believe that it is our duty as Christians to do all that is possible to find ways in which our two neighboring peoples can live as friends.”

For years, U.S. faith groups and their leaders have been appealing to Congress and various presidents to lift the U.S. trade and travel embargo on Cuba.

It was a good sign that, in 2011, President Obama lifted restrictions for religious and academic travel to Cuba, and allowed licensed people-to-people cultural travel. That has made it easier for U.S. faith groups to continue and expand relations with such groups as the Cuban Council of Churches, a long-time partner with Church World Service and many of our member communions and churches in such work as humanitarian relief following major disasters in Cuba.

As more normal ties between church bodies have expanded, there has been robust growth among Cuban churches. That is no accident, and parallels the movement for increased political rights and economic prosperity in Cuba.

Critics of the president will say the move strengthens the hand of the Cuban government. Good people can debate or disagree on that. But I take the point of Bishop Griselda Delgado, the Episcopal Bishop of Cuba. She was a member of a delegation of church leaders who visited the United States earlier this year. She said the only way to unlock the enmity between Cuba and the U.S. is “responsible, respectful dialogue.”

Some may argue that the U.S. got nothing in return for this change in policy. But I would argue that what we got was new-found hope for the Cuban people.

There is little to show for the 50-plus years of a trade and travel embargo: the Cuban government is still in power, and the only ones hurt by the continued separation of the two countries are the Cuban people.

Today, President Obama turned a new page to end that separation. Good for him. And good for the peoples of both nations.

McCullough is president and CEO of global humanitarian agency Church World Service.