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June 6, 1997
President William J. Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
We write to request that you authorize the resumption of direct flights to Cuba, at least for the delivery of humanitarian aid. The suspension of direct flights has had nothing but harmful consequences for both the authorized providers of such aid and the intended recipients, the suffering and needy people in Cuba who depend on the generosity of non-governmental organizations here and elsewhere.
Caritas Cubana, the official aid and development agency of the Catholic Church in Cuba, has a well-developed structure, with offices and personnel in every diocese of the country. Over the last few years, it has been able to channel medicines and other contributions received from private groups abroad, such as their United States counter-part agency, Catholic Relief Services-USCC (CRS), and the Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), to specific clinics, hospitals, and homes for the elderly where these items are critically needed.
The resources of CRS, CMMB and similar humanitarian agencies are limited and are being stretched drastically in their efforts to respond to urgent crises in scores of countries around the world. The relatively modest program of helping people in need in Cuba, fully authorized and indeed encouraged by our government, has been unfortunately and, we believe, unnecessarily burdened by the excessive costs involved in shipping through third countries. This is a burden which should be lifted and we appeal to you, Mr. President, to do so.
Thanking you for your kind attention to this request, and assuring you of our prayers, we remain
Sincerely yours,
| Most Reverend Theodore E. McCarrick Archbishop of Newark Chairman, USCC Committee on International Policy |
Most Reverend John H. Ricard, SSJ Bishop of Pensacola Chairman, CRS Board of Directors |