WHEREAS the citizens of Cuba have suffered great economic hardship throughout the 31 year-old embargo imposed by the United States and enforced by most US allies,

WHEREAS the recent loss of Cuba's traditional trading partners and sources of aid from Warsaw Pact countries has exacerbated the shortage of medical and food supplies to desperate levels in Cuba,

WHEREAS the increasing need to ration food and medical supplies is causing political unrest which may prompt repressive responses from governmental authorities and/or a full-scale social revolution,

WHEREAS the collapse of the communist system in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union provide a political opening for improved diplomatic relations within the Americas just as within other regions of the world,

WHEREAS the Christian church has an obligation to seek reconciliation between those who are estranged and to provide material assistance to those in need regardless of political affiliation.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Church of the Brethren General Board, meeting in Elgin, Illinois on March 7-10, 1992 commits itself and urges Brethren congregations and members to:

Reaffirm our 1985 Annual Conference "Resolution on Normalizing Relations with Cuba" which calls upon the officers of Annual Conference to petition the President, the Secretary of State, and key congressional leaders to take necessary steps to:

restore normal diplomatic and trade relations with Cuba;

end restrictions on travel to Cuba; and

encourage communication with Cuba and dialog between our citizens.

Join together with sisters and brothers from churches in the US and Cuba to

wholeheartedly participate in Church World Service and other relief efforts and begin immediate shipments of much 'needed food and medical supplies to Cuba,

petition the US Treasury Department to grant license for the legal shipments of humanitarian aid to Cuba from the US, and

urgently explore alternative means of responding to the increasingly desperate need for food and medical supplies in Cuba.