August 11, 2006
GIVING BACK
New U.S. Policy Roils Aid to Cuba

A new U.S. policy intended to boost pressure on the communist government of Cuba is making life more difficult for some U.S. humanitarian groups. And some of these organizations worry that the move, which came before the recent disclosure about Fidel Castro's health problems, could presage a further tightening by the Bush administration.

Last month, the U.S. said that American aid groups could no longer distribute certain types of assistance through the Cuban Council of Churches, a national association of mainly Protestant churches in Cuba. Though medical supplies and food are exempt from the ban, officials at Church World Service, a group of 35 denominations, say they are concerned that distribution of items such as diapers, school supplies and personal hygiene goods could be blocked. And the Rev. John McCullough, Church World Service's executive director, says his group fears that the flow of all types of aid could be constrained if it has to find another Cuban partner to work with. He criticized the new rules as a threat to religious freedom.

The State Department, which recommended the rules change, says it doesn't discriminate against any "independent" religious organization; it says the Cuban Council of Churches is "controlled and administered" by the Cuban government. The U.S. move also included an offer of $80 million over two years to groups that provide aid and promote democracy in Cuba. Cuban authorities reacted angrily to the U.S. moves, condemning them as "an act of war."

American aid groups are required to have a license from the U.S. government to supply aid to Cuba, which has been under U.S. embargo since 1963. The island's communist rulers, for their part, ban aid from groups that receive funding from the U.S. government.

The number of groups licensed by the U.S. to provide humanitarian aid in Cuba rose in recent years, to 36 in 2005 from 25 in 2003, says the Treasury Department. But the number of licenses issued for religious purposes declined, to 225 in 2005 from 277 in 2003, after a Treasury spokeswoman says the Office of Foreign Assets Control "became aware that a number of large organizations were abusing their religious travel licenses" by using them for things such as tourism.

Catholic Relief Services of the U.S., which distributes aid in Cuba through the social services arm of the Catholic Church in Cuba, has been unaffected by the new policy, says Brian Goonan, the group's Cuba country manager. He says Catholic Relief has supplied at least $26 million in humanitarian aid there since 1993.