Reformed leaders demand end to Cuba economic embargo

Reformed Church leaders from the Caribbean and North America have called on the US to lift its economic embargo against Cuba in the name of justice and 'right relationships'.

The call came at the end of a four-day meeting of the Caribbean and North America Area Council (CANAAC) of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) in the capital of Guyana, Georgetown, last week.

The US has, meanwhile, given no indication of an early end to its long-standing trade embargo against Cuba.

CANAAC will demand an end to the embargo in a letter to US President George W Bush and Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in which they decry the embargo as a violation against the Cuban people and an exclusion that impoverishes and causes harsh suffering for women, men and children.

The Roman Catholic Church, said the US embargo against Cuba was "ethically unacceptable".

The Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone was the first foreign official to meet new Cuban President Raul Castro after taking over from his brother Fidel, who retired in February after 49 years in power.

Cardinal Bertone was in Cuba from 20 to 26 February to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the late Pope John Paul's visit to Cuba.

He told Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that he and Castro had discussed the possibility of a visit to Cuba by the Pope, although no date had been agreed.

"I believe Pope Benedict would have a great desire to go to Cuba and deliver another dose of hope and closeness to the Church and the Cuban people," he said.