Cuban speaker denied visa

By: Michaela McCaughey

Posted: 2/10/04

02/10/04 - Rev. Raul Suarez, executive director of the Martin Luther Iing Memorial Center and Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Havana, Cuba, was denied a visa to the United States. He was scheduled to speak at the University of Rhode Island's 10th Annual lecture on Multiculturalism today.

"The U.S. State Department says that [Cuban] elected government officials are prohibited from coming to the United States," said Melvin Wade, director of URI's Multicultural Center. Suarez is an elected deputy on Cuba's National Assembly, or parliament.

Suarez has traveled to the U.S. over 20 times, and yet is not allowed a visa to come to the country for today's lecture.

Wade credits this change to the events of Sept. 11, and the Bush administration's characterization of Cuba as a terrorist state.

"In my opinion, it raises questions about the nature of civil liberties in the United States," said Wade.

Dr. Miren Uriarte and Rev. Lucius Walker will deliver the Suarez's speech instead.

"It wasn't very difficult to find replacements, because of the network of people who know this man," Wade said. The two speakers have known Suarez since the founding of the Martin Iing Memorial Center in 1987.

Uriarte is a professor of human services at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.

Walker is the executive director of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization and Pastors for Peace.

Associate Director of IFCO Ellen Bernstein said the organization has been traveling to Cuba since 1991 educate people about American policy with Cuba and to fight against the economic blockade on the country. Cuba has universal health care and free education, said Bernstein, adding that they are a humane, cultured society.

Regarding Suarez's visa denial, Bernstein said, "It's just another example of the mean-spirited policies of the U.S. at this point." It is part of the "information blockade," an effort of the U.S. government to keep their policy in place, she said.

"Suarez is a very critical thinker," Bernstein said. "He speaks very honestly, and the U.S. government doesn't like that."

"He's been robbed of the right to travel, but we're robbed of the right to information and dialogue," said Wade.

He added that Suarez does not pose a threat to U.S. national security.

"They're not looking at the individual, just a blanket statement of the Cuban government," Wade said. "It just makes so little sense." He is hopeful that things will shift to a more individual basis and said, "People all over the country are concerned about the denial of his visa."

Uriarte and Walker will discuss "Promoting Social Development in Cuba: What Works Best." The lecture will be held at 7 p.m. at the Chafee Auditorium followed by a question and answer session. It is free and open to the public. Prior to the lecture is a dinner from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Multicultural Center Forum. Thirty-five seats are available to students and will be given to those who arrive first.

As a follow up to the lecture, a teach-in on Cuba will be held on Tues. Feb. 17, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Memorial Union, Atrium II. It will be moderated by Jennifer Ungemach, Cuba and Nicaragua program officer, Oxfam America, and will include community and campus members who have visited Cuba.