AUSTIN, Texas — In light of the Elian Gonzales saga, a Baptist group has renewed calls for the United States to lift its 40-year-old trade embargo against Cuba.
“The Elian Gonzales affair most likely would not have occurred if the embargo did not exist,” said Jim Strickland, one of the 364 people to register at the 14th annual convocation of the Alliance of Baptists April 27-29 in Austin, Texas.
Strickland, of Florida, confessed he was torn between whether the group should miss an opportunity to reiterate its opposition to the embargo or risk the appearance of exploiting the highly publicized impasse between the Cuban father and Miami relatives who took custody of the boy after his mother drowned at sea.
The Washington-based Alliance, which has sponsored several friendship tours to Cuba, has previously protested the embargo as an outdated and ineffective policy. Earlier statements have charged that the embargo, enacted by President John F. Kennedy to put pressure on Fidel Castro, has brought undue suffering to Cuban citizens since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the island nation’s main trade partner. An April 28 resolution called on Congress and President Clinton “to begin an intentional process” to end the embargo.
The Alliance maintains a relationship with the Fraternity of Baptist Churches in Cuba. Francisco Rodes, the Cuban group’s president, said Christian churches “are making a bridge between our countries.”
Share with others: