Church World Service (CWS), the Humanitarian agency, has protested at the weekend against recommendations made in an advanced draft of a report it received on Friday.
The CWS claims the report would end its ability to provide basic relief aid to those in need on the island, if it was enacted.The report was made by the Bush Government’s Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba.
The Commission was chaired by Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, and co-chaired by Secretary of Commerce George Gutierrez. As of yet the report has not been released officially.
Should President Bush decide to accept the recommendations of the report, and the Commerce Department enact them, it is unlikely that CWS would be allowed to provide aid through the Cuban Council of Churches (CCC), which has been a partner of CWS in Cuba for 60 years, according to CWS Executive Director Rev. John L. McCullough.
CWS has pointed out that aside from the problems the report causes for aid delivery, it also has some negative impact on religious freedom.
The CWS would view any regulations resulting from the recommendations of this report as an unwarranted incursion into religious freedom by the Bush government.
CWS has claimed that the report is an assault on ecumenical relations not just in Cuba, but internationally. The report allegedly sets a dangerous precedent by trying to dictate the ways in which humanitarian aid is delivered to those who need it.
By threatening the way CWS delivers aid in Cuba, there is no reason to suppose it could be hampered elsewhere globally.
One of the reports recommendations reads:
