Politics aside, an LI connection

By Erin Texeira
STAFF WRITER

When Lucy Fetterolf of Huntington first traveled to Cuba in 1986 in connection with her church, most of her friends and neighbors were befuddled. Some were offended.

"In the 1980s, nobody went to Cuba," she said. "It was the [Ronald] Reagan administration, evil empire time, and people thought I was a communist." But Fetterolf and others at Old First Huntington Presbyterian persisted, nurturing connections with Cuban Christians struggling under Fidel Castro's anti-religion edicts. As of last year, she has visited 20 times.

Over the years, particularly as U.S. relations with Cuba relaxed in the 1990s, seven other Long Island churches joined their efforts, donating computers, medicines and building supplies to sister churches in Havana. In turn, members of those churches have visited congregations from Northport to Montauk, sharing perspectives on faith and politics from their homeland.

This week, those friendships rooted in spiritual bonds were strengthened during visits to Huntington, East Moriches and Southold by Dora Arce Valentín, the first woman to head the Presbyterian church in Cuba.

Meeting with local Presbyterian ministers, the reverend said that - despite escalating political tensions between the two nations in recent months - ongoing dialogue and improved communication between the nations is needed now more than ever.

"Americans and Cubans are friendly, open people," said Arce Valentín, 44. "We know that what's going on now is an issue of governments, not people."

The Havana-Long Island church partnerships began informally in 1981 when Fetterolf began exchanging letters with a pastor there. Today, Long Islanders make several trips a year to the island, she said.

"Everyone who returns says, 'The people are so hospitable. Their faith is so strong. It changed my life,'" Fetterolf said, adding that she has long-standing friendships with Cubans.

Now, international politics are imposing new challenges on those bonds. In April, the U.S. State Department labeled Cuba, along with Syria, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, North Korea and Iran, a nation that sponsors terrorist activities. Some in Cuba worry that the island would be invaded much like Iraq, Arce Valentín said.

"A lot of people think there's no reason to be concerned - but we do," she told a group of Presbyterian church officials in Southold Tuesday. "People [in the United
States] have misinformation, or no information."

Weeks before the terrorist label was imposed, Cuban President Fidel Castro had jailed dozens of Cuban dissidents and executed three people who tried to flee the
country by hijacking a ferry. On Cuban television, Castro said the hijackers were executed as examples of what would happen to those who tried to leave,
according to American news reports.

In an interview Tuesday, Arce Valentín said she opposes the death penalty and the government's actions - but still urged more openness.

"My dream is that one day we can be good neighbors who respect each other, that we can be friends and trade freely," she said.

The decades-old trade barriers between the United States and Cuba, she said, are not hurting Castro. "The main victim is the people and, from my pastoral point of
view, that doesn't make sense."

Indeed, other Cubans - including some who are fiercely opposed to Castro - agree.

Jorge Martínez, a 30-year resident of Freeport who was born in Cuba, said, "We've gotten to the point where the [trade] blockade hasn't worked. You have two
options: You put [American] troops in there or you open up the country."

Despite the continued challenges of life in Cuba, much has changed compared with the years after Castro came to power in 1959. Although virtually no Americans
visited the island then due to U.S. restrictions, by the 1990s that had shifted dramatically. It is now popular, even trendy, to visit the island known for its vibrant
music and hospitable people.

And religious expression, once mostly confined to government-dictated study of atheism, is now flourishing, Arce Valentín said. In addition to Catholic parishes and
other churches, there are now as many as 10,000 Presbyterians in 33 churches on the island, she said.

"It's too bad the government is so difficult," said Marilyn Fox of Northport, a former Spanish teacher who has visited Havana's Iglesia Presbyteriana Reformada de
Nueva Paz through First Presbyterian of Northport. "It's a wonderful country."

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