NCC's Edgar knocks Bush stance on Cuba

Christian Century, June 5, 2002

The general secretary of the National Council of Churches, who worked to reunite Elian Gonzalez with his Cuban family, said President Bush is wrong to maintain the embargo on Cuba. Bob Edgar spoke to the Washington Office on Latin America at the same time the president was speaking in Miami about his refusal to lift the 40-year-old trade embargo against the communist nation.

"If we really want to invade Cuba with democracy, the best way is to lift the embargo, not impose the embargo," said Edgar, a United Methodist minister and a former six-term Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania. Bush said the island nation "has been insulted by a tyrant who uses brutal methods to enforce a bankrupt vision. [The Cuban] legacy has been debased by a relic from another era who has turned a beautiful island into a prison."

Bush, speaking on May 20 not long after former President Jimmy Carter had visited Cuba and recommended U.S. policy changes, said the embargo would remain in place until President Fidel Castro takes meaningful steps toward reform. Just days after assuming his office in early 2000, Edgar became embroiled in the struggle over Elian, the six-year-old Cuban boy who was found floating off Miami. Edgar and NCC staff worked with the Cuban Council of Churches to return the boy to Cuba, despite some criticism that it was improper for the NCC to become involved in the diplomatic and family dispute.

Edgar said Bush's anti-Castro rhetoric is motivated more by politics than by principle. He said Bush wants to shore up support for his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, while also securing votes for his own 2004 reelection bid. "[The apostle] Paul on the road to Damascus was a persecutor, and when the scales were removed from his eyes, he became a Christian," Edgar said. "In many ways, this president is blind and continues to encourage blindness in others.... Hopefully, over time we'll regain our vision."

Edgar said religious freedom is "blossoming" in Cuba and will only be hampered by continuing the sanctions. NCC President Elenie Husagh recently traveled to Cuba to help dedicate land for a new Greek Orthodox cathedral there. "I think God not only wants us to recognize our enemies but recognize our enemies when our enemies are doing the right thing," Edgar said.--RNS