AFRICA: The Assembly asked for “a concerted, coordinated effort” to bring attention to the crisis of AIDS in Africa, and to encourage Presbyterians to give generously to help.
SUDAN: The Assembly is recommending that Talisman Energy be removed from the list of companies in which the PC(USA) urges disinvestment, because Talisman has withdrawn from its involvement in Sudan.
FREE TRADE: The PC(USA) declared its opposition to the Central American Free Trade Agreement, stating that in its current form it doesn’t adequately protect workers’ rights and human rights, and limits the ability of governments and people from affected countries to regulate the corporations involved. It also calls on Presbyterians and congregations to educate themselves about economic globalization and to get involved with groups opposing this and other free trade agreements.
CUBA: The Assembly is asking the U.S. Treasury to rescind new regulations involving travel to Cuba. Victoria Rodriguez, an elder from Florida, argued in favor of the new restrictions, saying that travel by Americans to Cuba “puts money in Fidel’s pocket” and helps keep Fidel Castro in power.
But Diane Lacey Winley of New York City Presbytery said the new regulations hurt “ordinary families” and won’t allow Cuban Americans living in the U.S. to go back home any more than once every three years, with “no exceptions.” Winley said she knows a Cuban-American priest who was denied a visit to Cuba, even though his father was hospitalized there.
