GM Call for Granting Religious Travel to Cuba
GLOBAL
MINISTRIES
A common witness of the Division of Overseas Ministries, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
and Wider Church Ministries, United Church of Christ
Signed By: Rev. Dr. David A. Vargas Rev. Cally Rogers-Witte
President, Division of Overseas Ministries Executive Minister, Wider Church Ministries
Co-executive, Global Ministries Co-executive, Global Ministries
P. O. Box 1986 700 Prospect Avenue, 7
th Floor
Indianapolis, IN 46206-1986 Cleveland, OH 44115-1100
Tel. 317-713-2575 Fax 317-635-4323 Tel. 216-736-3201 Fax 216-736-3203
dvargas@dom.disciples.org rogersc@ucc.org
globalministries.org
Rev. Dr. David A. Vargas
President, Division of Overseas Ministries
Co-Executive Director, Global Ministries
Rev. Cally Rogers-Witte
Executive for Wider Church Ministries
Co-Executive, Global Ministries
May 28, 2006
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
As leaders of Christian denominations and ecumenical organizations, we have a long collective history of missionary and
humanitarian activity in the nation of Cuba. Our partnership with churches, denominations, and ecumenical organizations
there goes back many years, and transcends political ideologies. We write you today because recent policy decisions by the
State Department and the Treasury Department are deeply damaging to our ability to work with our sister churches in Cuba.
Regulatory decisions made by these agencies curtail religious freedom, and impair our ability to participate in what we
understand to be the churches’ global mission.
For more than a decade, U.S. church bodies, whether national, regional, or local, have been eligible to receive licenses to
conduct religious travel to Cuba. These licenses have allowed us to work closely with partner churches and religious
institutions and to assist Cuban churches in their important faith witness.
But new interpretations of U.S. government regulations have suddenly restricted our ability to work with our partners.
National denominational bodies and religious organizations are now eligible only for very restricted licenses, which limit us
to one trip per quarter, and require us to submit at the beginning of the year a list of no more than 25 people who will
participate in each trip. These impractical restrictions have reduced our ability to send religious delegations to Cuba, limit
our opportunities to accompany and support our Cuban church partners, and have the effect of severely restricting
participation in Cuba missions by many local U.S. churches and congregants. We are deeply troubled by these decisions;
we believe them to be unfair and inappropriate, and to reflect undue governmental interference in the exercise of religion.
We write today to call these issues to your attention. We know that you have asked the Commission for Assistance to a
Free Cuba, chaired by Secretary Rice, to make a set of recommendations to you about U.S. policy toward Cuba by the
beginning of May. We hope you will use the opportunity created by this review of Cuba policy to affirm your
Administration’s support for the free exercise of our work in mission and fellowship with churches and ecumenical
agencies in Cuba, and to see that these restrictive and unnecessary regulations are reversed.
Respectfully,
GLOBAL
MINISTRIES
A common witness of the Division of Overseas Ministries, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
and Wider Church Ministries, United Church of Christ
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
globalministries.org
Félix E. Ortiz-Cotto Ruth Chavez Wallace Julia A. Flores-Ferrer
Executive Program Associate Administrative Assistant
fortiz@dom.disciples.org rwallace@dom.disciples.org jferrer@dom.disciples.org
Mailing Address Building Address
P.O. Box 1986 130 East Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46206-1986 U.S.A. Indianapolis, IN 46204-3645 U.S.A.
Phone: 317-713-2561 Fax: 317-635-4323