Presbyterian News Service, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) LOUISVILLE
Church World Service, NEW YORK:
PC(USA) Stated Clerk lauds historic action on Cuba
Office of the General Assembly
Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk
Louisville
Today, after many long years, we welcome the historic steps taken by President Obama on normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba. The humanitarian release of Alan Gross by the Cuban government along with the release of the three Cuban prisoners, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, and Ramón Labañino, by the Obama administration moves the roadblocks that have held back progress in improving relations between our two countries for far too long.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been working for more than 30 years to help ease the hardships caused by the United States’ economic embargo on Cuba and to end the embargo itself. Recently I have been participating in a series of meetings with government officials both in Cuba and in Washington. Along with the Reverend John L. McCullough, president and chief executive officer of Church World Service; and Rabbi Elhanan “Sunny” Schnitzer, executive director of the Cuba-America Jewish Mission; we emphasized the humanitarian reasons for the release of Alan Gross and the three Cuban prisoners.
The announcement today by President Obama not only eases the suffering of the family members and friends of these prisoners, but also takes us closer to a day when our two peoples will have no impediments to full and flourishing relations. We rejoice along with the Cuban Council of Churches and the Presbyterian Church of Cuba for the good news that will further the cause of peace and human rights around the world.
Source: Presbyterian News Service, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): http://www.pcusa.org/news/2014/12/17/pcusa-stated-clerk-lauds-historic-action-cuba/
CWS Commends President Obama on Cuba Normalization
Church World Service is celebrating a momentous diplomatic agreement between the United States and Cuba and what it means for humanitarian and faith relations for citizens of both countries.
“This agreement represents a significant step forward in human rights,” CWS President and CEO, the Rev. John L. McCullough said. “We welcome this exciting new phase in relations between the people of Cuba and the U.S.”
During a press conference at the White House, President Obama laid out what the agreement includes – and what it does not. Included are high level, wide-ranging talks between senior officials, a re-establishing of diplomatic relations, adjusting regulations to more effectively empower the Cuban people, facilitating travel expansion to Cuba and authorizing expanded sale and exports of certain goods and services from the U.S. to Cuba are components of the agreement. In addition, President Obama has tasked Secretary of State John Kerry with reviewing the state sponsor of terrorism designation that Cuba currently has under U.S. policy. However, ending the embargo completely will require Congressional action.
“We commend the President’s decision to ask Secretary Kerry to review the state sponsor of terrorism designation. The next step is to have it formally revoked,” McCullough said.
CWS and many of its member communions have long sought normalization of relations with Cuba, engaging leaders on both sides, including the Cuban presidential administration. McCullough recently led a delegation of U.S. faith-based advocates to Cuba in an effort to pursue the release of Gross, who has been detained there for five years. The call was issued by the Cuban Council of Churches, the Rev. John McCullough of Church World Service, Rabbi Sunny Schnitzer of the Jewish Renewal Movement and the Rev. Gradye Parsons of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
CWS first provided support to Cuba in the form of food assistance in 1961, before the Bay of Pigs invasion. Since, CWS has provided support for the Cuban Council of Churches and assistance following disasters such as hurricanes. CWS also has a long-standing operation in Miami that provides immediate relief and long-term social services to Cubans who have come to the U.S. seeking a new life.
McCullough recently led a delegation of U.S. faith-based advocates to Cuba in an effort to pursue the release of Alan Gross, who has been detained there for five years. The call was issued by the Cuban Council of Churches, the Rev. John McCullough of Church World Service, Rabbi Sunny Schnitzer of the Jewish Renewal Movement and the Rev. Gradye Parsons of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
McCullough also met with Antonio Guerrero, one of the “Cuban 5,” who the U.S. has detained on espionage charges. Guerrero has been held at the Federal Correctional Institution in Marianna, Fla.
Gross and the remaining three “Cuban 5” detainees have all been released, a move that signaled today’s announcement.
“I’ve spoken with our colleagues and friends in Cuba and they are ecstatic,” McCullough said. “We are keeping a close watch as the coming days and weeks unfold with the hopes today’s historic action will improve lives.”
Source: Church World Service: http://www.cwsglobal.org/newsroom/news-releases/cws-commends-president-on-cuba-normalization.html
Photo: CWS President and CEO the Rev. John L. McCullough was part of a U.S. religious leaders’ delegation that traveled to Cuba Nov. 2-5. Topping the agenda of the delegation’s humanitarian mission was to request the release of American Alan Gross from prison in Cuba, and of the three members of the “Cuban 5” still in prison in the United States. Pictured (left to right): The Rev. Joel Ortega Dopico, Cuban Council of Churches President; Rabbi Elhanan Sunny Schnitzer Executive Director of the Cuba America Jewish Mission; Elizabeth Palmeiro, wife of “Cuban 5” member Luis Medina; McCullough; René González, “Cuban 5” member freed by the United States after he completed his sentence; Gonzalez’s wife Olga Salanueva, and the Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), meeting in Havana. Photo: Courtesy John McCullough
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