The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship Statement on the United States and Cuba

The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship calls on the Presbyterian Church (USA), its councils, congregations and members, to condemn any action the United States may take relative to the conquest, appropriation, or change of government in Cuba. 

The witness of scripture invites us to dream of and work toward a day when swords and spears will be turned into plowshares and pruning hooks; nations will neither make nor study war, and as a result God’s children everywhere  “will sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees and none shall make them afraid.” (Micah 4:1-4). Guided by these words of joyful hope, we acknowledge that the call to lay down weapons surely must apply to the United States and that the right of people to dwell securely and without fear must apply to the people of Cuba. 

The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), in the Confession of 1967, directs that “the Church, in its own life, is called to practice the forgiveness of enemies and to commend to the nations as practical politics the search for cooperation and peace.” (Book of Confessions 9.45). Faithful to this calling, the Presbyterian Church (USA), together with its councils, congregations and members, must affirm that no conquest, appropriation, or forced regime change in Cuba is consistent with our confessional standards. 

The historical antagonism of the United States toward Cuba is a relic of the Cold War. In the decades following the Second World War, the United States’ policies toward Cuba betrayed the Gospel’s call to live peacefully with our neighbors; more than 35 years since the end of the Cold War, American aggression toward Cuba is entirely devoid of justifications, to say nothing of moral validity. 

The claims of scripture, the witness of our confessions, and the historical record all call us to denounce as evil any attempts by the United States to violate Cuba’s sovereignty through military conquest, economic strangulation, or political pressure. 

Longing for the peace of God’s Kingdom, may the Presbyterian Church (USA) join our prayers with those of the Cuban Presbyterian poet Adriana Guerrero Enríque, who asks of God,

En la espera de cada amanecer,

en el andar de la oscuridad de los días,

reconstruye y renueva el futuro.

(In the waiting for each sunrise

In the stumbling though gloomy days, 

Remake and renew the future.) 

(From the poem Oración de Mañana, published on the Facebook page of Iglesia Presbyteriana-Reformada en Cuba, March 19, 2026) 

Amen