c. 1996 Religion News Service

VANCOUVER, British Columbia _ The Anglican Church of Canada is calling on Canadian”snowbirds”to boycott U.S. travel destinations this winter and instead vacation in Cuba to protest the U.S. economic embargo of the Fidel Castro regime.

The boycott call was issued by the Council of General Synod, the governing body for the country’s 800,000 active Anglicans. The Anglican Church of Canada is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which also includes the Episcopal Church in the United States.

In particular, Canadian church members are upset at provisions of the Helms-Burton Act, a law recently passed by the U.S. Congress that, among other things, permits U.S. citizens to file lawsuits against foreign firms using Cuban property that was confiscated when Castro seized power in 1959. It also allows the U.S. government to bar executives of such firms from entering the United States.

In July, the State Department announced the first sanctions under the law, saying that nine major shareholders and senior executives of the Sherritt International Corp., a Canadian mining company, would be barred from entering the United States.”Many Canadian Christians, along with many Canadians, feel the U.S. assault on Cuba has been extremely damaging to ordinary Cubans who have nothing to do with political issues,”said Vancouver Anglican Bishop Michael Ingham, who helped draw up the resolution adopted by the Council of General Synod.”A lot of Canadians go south for the winter and a lot of them are members of our church. We think this will have some impact,”said Ingham, who is a member of the Council of General Synod, which approved the boycott at its monthly meeting late last month.

Out of a total 30 million population, an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million Canadian”snowbirds”visit the United States each winter to escape the country’s harsh winter. They spend nearly $1.3 billion in the United States, according to Oxfam Canada, the relief organization that has been a driving force behind the travel boycott.

Canada’s Anglican leaders initially considered calling on Canadians to avoid vacationing in Florida, where many Cuban expatriates live. Cuban-Americans have led the battle against the Castro regime and were key players in the political drive to pass the Helms-Burton act.

After lengthy debate, however, Ingham said the Anglican leadership decided to urge Canadians to travel to Cuba and the Caribbean and boycott all U.S. destinations. California, Arizona and New Mexico are also popular”snowbird”refuges.”A boycott can be quick and brutal; it makes a much quicker impression than a few letters to the editor,”said Anne Moffatt, a coordinator of the Primate’s Fund for World Relief and Development, the church’s relief arm which first pushed Canada’s Anglican leaders to back the boycott.

Despite the Anglican leaders’ call for a U.S.-wide travel boycott, a statement by the Primate’s Fund continued to emphasize targeting Florida.”Change your vacation plans and do not travel to Florida this winter,”the Primate’s Fund statement said.”If you must go, avoid major tourist attractions such as Disney World and Sea World. Please mail in `Florida Boycott’ postcards to the South East Florida Chamber of Commerce.” The Anglican Church of Canada, Ingham said, has long had close relations with churches in Cuba.”Because of our long partnership with Cuban church people, what hurts them, hurts us,”the bishop said.

The National Council of Churches in the United States, the Cuban Council of Churches, the Episcopal Church of Cuba, the Caribbean Conference of Churches, and the Latin American Council of Churches are united in opposing the U.S. blockade of Cuba.

In June, a national committee of the 750,000-member United Church of Canada gave its support to the boycott.”The Helms-Burton law is hurting ordinary Cubans,”said Anne Squire, a former moderator of the United Church of Canada and a supporter of the boycott effort.”Our church partners in Cuba are very concerned about the (embargo’s) direct effect on health care, housing and food.” The U.S. effort, aimed at toppling Castro, has also drawn ire from the Vatican.”Isolation by blockades is not a method for international relations,”Vatican Foreign Minister Archbishop Jean Louis said in October during a visit to Cuba.”We (the Vatican) don’t like imperial policies.” The Anglican Church boycott, said Ingham, is also an attempt to support the Canadian government, which has been vehement in opposing the Helms-Burton law. The law is also strongly opposed by most Latin American nations and by the European Community.

MJP END TODD