Cuban bishops oppose new U.S. travel, economic restrictions

Published: 2004-06-01

HAVANA (CNS) -- New restrictive measures announced by the U.S. and Cuban governments will only make life harder "for the poorest families of our nation," said the Cuban bishops. These measures have created anguish and uncertainty for the Cuban people, they said. The bishops criticized U.S. measures to further restrict travel to Cuba, especially by people with relatives there, and further limit the money Cubans living in the United States send to Cuba. The bishops also criticized price increases by the Cuban government, which described them as countermeasures to offset the expected economic loss to the Caribbean island nation by the new U.S. restrictions. "We consider it unacceptable that the future of Cuba be designed on the basis of exclusions and even more unacceptable that it be through interventions by a foreign government," said the May 26 statement signed by Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino of Havana and the four other members of the bishops' executive committee.

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .