Help for Havana's hungry

By ANITA SNOW
Associated Press

HAVANA -- Mercedes Varela chats animatedly outside the kitchen of her neighborhood church as workers spoon black beans, rice and chicken into blue plastic containers for her lunch.

With a slim pension and no relatives to help, the 78-year-old depends on the free lunches served up by the Roman Catholic charity Caritas to get enough to eat amid economic crisis.

``These years have been hard, but Caritas has proved to be a great thing,'' Varela said, her pale blue eyes brightening in her deeply lined face.

Her monthly 95-peso government pension is worth $95 under the official exchange rate but would get just $4 on the street.

Caritas Cuba and other church organizations have emerged in recent years to help patch the holes in Cuba's unraveling safety net, providing powdered milk to the elderly, free medicine to the ill and food and other help to prisoners' families.

Religious door opens

Cuba declared official atheism three years after the 1959 revolution, but in 1992 it began eliminating restrictions on worship.

The government has welcomed the charities' help since 1989, when the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe cut off important economic support.

``It is a very positive collaboration in helping find solutions to our country's problems,'' said Isidoro Gomez of the Communist Party's Office on Religious Affairs.

But the government regulations often make charity work difficult, forcing Caritas Cuba to navigate bureaucratic channels and sensitive politics to get food and medicine to the needy.

``Dialogue with the government has been instrumental,'' said Rolando Suarez, Caritas Cuba's director.

Wayne Smith, former head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, said Caritas Cuba performed a minor miracle in late 1996 when it persuaded the government to accept most of the aid that Cuban exiles in Miami sent to victims of Hurricane Lili.

Bureaucratic know-how

``Caritas knows how to operate within a difficult system to get things done,'' Smith said.

Authorities were infuriated when many aid packages arrived marked with slogans they considered political, including ``From Exile'' and ``Bread, Love and Freedom.''

They refused to distribute the rice, beans and powdered milk and locked it in warehouses.

``Our people will not accept anything that attacks our dignity, even in the most adverse conditions,'' the Communist Party newspaper Granma said.

After negotiations with charity officials, the government agreed to distribute about three-quarters of the 32 tons of aid -- about 24 tons -- to storm victims.

Caritas officials have maintained a diplomatic approach as they prepare for Pope John Paul II's visit to the island Jan. 21-25.

They remained cautious while other groups griped about a recent government decree limiting wholesale purchases by church organizations.

Struggle continues

``We cannot buy large amounts of food in bulk,'' was all that Suarez said. ``It is a problem for us, but we move ahead.''

The Cuban chapter of Caritas, an international organization, was founded in 1992, just as Cubans were feeling the full effect of the economic crisis.

With Cuban attorney Suarez at the helm, the organization grew to include 36 full-time workers and another 3,000 volunteers from the island's 10 Catholic dioceses. Its $5 million annual budget comes mostly through donations from Spain and other European countries.

Volunteers include Dr. Daisy del Toro, who distributes free medicine to people who have prescriptions.

Although the government still provides free health care and many medicines, some drugs are expensive or impossible to get.

Del Toro, 55, retired from her government job several years ago and now volunteers for Caritas full time. It's a responsibility that she feels is part of her life as a Catholic.

``Charity has always existed in the church,'' Del Toro said as she counted out capsules for an elderly man recovering from heart surgery. ``But what we are doing is very new in Cuba.''