Dear CRLN Members & Friends,

 

As you have most likely already heard, Hurricane Gustav tore through the Gulf of Mexico earlier in the month and took a particularly devastating toll on Cuba. The storm leveled houses and flooded streets, leaving in its path an estimated 500,000 residents without shelter or access to food or water. No one was killed by Gustav because of Cuba's effective evacuation plan. Compounding this damage, Hurricane Ike battered Cuba for several days this week, leaving severe damage, including at least 64 partially or fully collapsed buildings in the capital city and in Old Havana due to tropical storm force winds and torrential rains. Four deaths were reported due to Ike.

 

Francis Cardinal George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago and President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops publicly called on the U.S. government to lift its ban on remittances and travel to Cuba, even temporarily, in light of the crisis caused by recent hurricanes.  You can read his letter to President Bush by clicking here: http://www.nccbuscc.org/comm/archives/2008/08-134.shtml.

 

Now is the time to advocate persistently and loudly for an end to restrictions that prevent Americans from directly coming to the aid of our Cuban sisters and brothers. To find out how you can take action, click here: http://www.crln.org/Cuba_End_Restrictions.

 

 

Danielle E. Wegman, Public Policy Coordinator

Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN)

4750 N Sheridan Rd, Ste 429, Chicago IL 60640

Tel: 773/293-2964, Fax: 773/293-3677, www.crln.org