We Say “NO” to U.S. Threats of War on Cuba. Why Doesn’t the Canadian Government?

Canadian churches, labour organizations, and civil society groups call on the Government of Canada to publicly reject the United States’ escalating actions against Cuba, including threats of military intervention and measures that are causing the mass suffering of the people of Cuba.

A broad range of civil society organizations, including The United Church of Canada, published an advertisement of a public statement in The Hill Times urging Canada to take concrete actions now to defend Cuba’s sovereignty and uphold international law.

The ad calls on Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Government of Canada to:

• Publicly oppose and work to stop a U.S. military intervention in Cuba
• Speak out forcefully against unlawful and coercive U.S. measures to withhold fuel and starve the Cuban people
• Work more determinedly with the United Nations and with other countries to deliver fuel and other life-sustaining supplies to Cuba without delay

Signatories to the statement include Canadian unions, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Council of Canadians, KAIROS, Presbyterian World Service and Development, The Presbyterian Church in Canada, The Anglican Church of Canada, Alongside Hope, the World Association for Christian Communication, Common Frontiers, and the Americas Policy Group. A press release from Common Frontiers speaking to the statement is available to read in the Downloads below.

The call to action coincides with hearings this week by the Parliamentary Subcommittee on International Human Rights (SDIR) on Cuba.

Solidarity, Hope, and Care with Cuban Partners

Cuban Mission and Service partners of The United Church of Canada insist that Cuba is already experiencing an economic war. They say that they are living a slow death.

Due to the U.S.-imposed fuel blockade and May 1 executive order, they describe exorbitant prices for fuel, lack of access to water, food, and healthcare—including dialysis, cancer treatment, and ultrasounds for pregnant women. Cuban partners fear that damage caused by these measures will be irreversible and long-lasting, that the Cuban people will be damaged for all of their life by these measures.

The Hill Times ad urging Canada to take action against sanctions that threaten Cubans' lives

Credit: The Hill Times

Join in Prayer

The Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba, a Mission and Service Partner of The United Church, invites you to join them in the daily prayer below every night at 9:00 p.m. during this Ordinary Time: 

Let us lift our voices together in prayer for our people and their churches.

God, Father, and Mother, in these moments when we as a people feel exhausted and disheartened by a harsh reality that drains our hope—times when human wretchedness surfaces as a means of survival, and when our own needs might blind us to our neighbour—we cry out to You, good God.

We humbly ask that Your church remain a place of welcome, a space where all people are received—a great Paschal table where all may find a seat. May every need be transformed into a ministry of service and compassion, and may we be that great family that lives, weeps, walks alongside others, laughs, celebrates, prays, sings praises, and whispers of Your presence in every corner where peace and justice are envisioned.

We place this people before You; make us, as a church, proclaimers of hope, affirming Your constant presence—manifested in service and in love that is shared, proclaimed, and celebrated. Grant us the grace to proclaim the certainty that God has not abandoned Cuba or its people.

We cry out for peace, for an end to violence, war, and greed; and we implore that we, as Your children, may be instruments of that peace—the peace that comes hand-in-hand with justice and heralds Your eternal reign. 

To You be the glory, good God! Now and forever, Amen.