CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Catholic bishops in the U.S. and Cuba rejoiced at the historic announcement of a new relationship between the countries, while some U.S. leaders warned the policy shift could have negative consequences.<\/p>\n\t\u201cEngagement is the path to support change in Cuba and to empower the Cuban people in their quest for democracy, human rights and religious liberty,\u201d said Bishop Oscar Cant\u00fa of Las Cruces, N.M., who chairs the U.S. bishops\u2019 Committee on International Justice and Peace.<\/p>\n
\tIn a Dec. 17 statement, he voiced joy and gratitude for the announcement of plans to normalize relations between the U.S. and Cuba, which have for decades been marked by an embargo and lack of formal diplomatic relations.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cOur Conference has long held that universal human rights will be strengthened through more engagement between the Cuban and American people,\u201d Bishop Cant\u00fa said.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe believe it is long past due that the United States establish full diplomatic relations with Cuba, withdraw all restrictions on travel to Cuba, rescind terrorist designations aimed at Cuba, encourage trade that will benefit both nations, lift restrictions on business and financial transactions, and facilitate cooperation in the areas of environmental protection, drug interdiction, human trafficking and scientific exchanges.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe Cuban bishops also expressed their gratitude over the new policy in a statement, saying it opened \u201cnew horizons of hope\u201d for the Cuban people.<\/p>\n
\tThe U.S. and Cuba announced a prisoner exchange and a new relationship between the countries on Dec. 17.<\/p>\n
\tDiscussions are in place for diplomatic relations between the countries to be reset for the first time in more than 50 years. In addition, a U.S. embassy in Havanna and high-level U.S. visits to the country are being planned.<\/p>\n
\tThe Cuban government released American Alan Gross \u201con humanitarian grounds\u201d after his five-year imprisonment there, as well as a valuable U.S. intelligence \u201casset\u201d imprisoned for 20 years whom Obama administration officials declined to name. The U.S. released three Cubans who were being held for espionage.<\/p>\n
\tThe Vatican was a major supporter of the exchange and the new relationship, the White House revealed, with Pope Francis personally appealing to leaders of both countries for a new policy. The Vatican hosted the final meeting where the exchange was made official, and senior Vatican officials participated in the talks \u2013 the only other country to take part in the discussions.<\/p>\n
\tThe Vatican released a statement late on Wednesday applauding the agreement.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe Holy Father wishes to express his warm congratulations for the historic decision taken by the Governments of the United States of America and Cuba to establish diplomatic relations, with the aim of overcoming, in the interest of the citizens of both countries, the difficulties which have marked their recent history,\u201d read the statement from the Vatican Communiqu\u00e9 of the Secretariat of State.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPope Francis did what popes are supposed to do: Build bridges and promote peace,\u201d stated Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, who called the new relationship \u201ca real game changer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cHe acted much like his namesake, Francis of Asissi, who during the fifth crusade, went to Egypt to meet with the Sultan al Kamil in the interest of peace,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe Church in Cuba has always opposed the embargo, arguing that it was a blunt instrument that hurt the innocent more than the guilty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tRaul Castro has \u201cseemed to indicate that his government was open to engage in conversations with the U.S. on issues related to democracy and human rights,\u201d Archbishop Wenski said. \u201cProgress in this area is normally the result, and not the precondition, of such talks \u2013 and so the prospect of such talks is a positive development.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tNot everyone embraced the announcement of the policy change, however. It drew strong criticism from Cuban-American senators on both sides of the political aisle, who warned that it could have disastrous consequences for people in both the U.S. and Cuba.<\/p>\n
\tSen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, went so far as to call it a \u201cvictory for oppression.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe entire policy shift is based on the illusion \u2013 in fact, on the lie \u2013 that more commerce and access to money and goods will translate to political freedom for the Cuban people. Cuba already enjoys access to commerce, money and goods from other nations, and yet the Cuban people are still not free,\u201d he said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Dec. 18.<\/p>\n
\tRubio warned that Obama had set a dangerous precedent of negotiating for hostages and had granted concessions to a government that imprisons political opponents and prevents free speech and free elections.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe opportunity for Cuba to normalize relations with the U.S. has always been there, but the Castro regime has never been interested in changing its ways. Now, thanks to President Obama\u2019s concessions, the regime in Cuba won\u2019t have to change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tThe chair of the Senate\u2019s Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), called the policy change \u201cdramatic and mistaken,\u201d saying that it \u201cfails to understand the nature of the regime in Cuba that has exerted its authoritarian control over the Cuban people for 55 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt is a fallacy that Cuba will reform just because the American President believes that if he extends his hand in peace that the Castro brothers suddenly will unclench their fists,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cA majority of democratic activists on the island, including many that I have met with, have been explicit that they want the U.S. to become open to Cuba only when there is reciprocal movement by the Castro government.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tMenendez observed that Cuba is losing its main benefactor with the collapse of the Venezuelan economy. Therefore, he said, offering the Cuban regime \u201can economic lifeline\u201d at this time is simply perpetuating \u201cthe Castro regime\u2019s decades of repression.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe also cautioned against removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism when the nation \u201charbors American fugitives\u201d and has worked with North Korea in an effort \u201cto smuggle jets, missile batteries, and arms through the Panama Canal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Washington D.C., Dec 18, 2014 \/ 02:29 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Catholic bishops in the U.S. and Cuba rejoiced at the historic announcement of a new relationship between the countries, while some U.S. leaders warned the policy shift could have negative cons…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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