New U.S. Policy and Aid to Cuba

A new U.S. policy intended to boost pressure on the communist government of Cuba is making life more difficult for some U.S. humanitarian groups. And some of these organizations worry that the move, which came before the recent disclosure about Fidel Castro's health problems, could presage a further tightening by the Bush administration.

American aid groups are required to have a license from the U.S. government to supply aid to Cuba, which has been under U.S. embargo since 1963. The island's communist rulers, for their part, ban aid from groups that receive funding from the U.S. government.

Last month, the U.S. said that American aid groups could no longer distribute certain types of assistance through the Cuban Council of Churches, a national association of mainly Protestant churches in Cuba. Though medical supplies and food are exempt from the ban, officials at Church World Service, a group of 35 denominations, say they are concerned that distribution of items such as diapers, school supplies and personal hygiene goods could be blocked. And the Rev. John McCullough, Church World Service's executive director, says his group fears that the flow of all types of aid could be constrained if it has to find another Cuban partner to work with. He criticized the new rules as a threat to religious freedom.

The State Department, which recommended the rules change, says it doesn't discriminate against any "independent" religious organization; it says the Cuban Council of Churches is "controlled and administered" by the Cuban government.

[Excerpt of an article by Sally Beatty, The Wall Street Journal]