Washington, Apr 27 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Ambassador Lianys Torres today described the late U.S. religious leader, Reverend Joan Brown Campbell, as a tireless defender of human dignity, a loyal friend, and a voice of hope.
Torres, Chargé d’Affaires of the Cuban Embassy in the United States, reiterated her gratitude to the “dear friend of the Cuban people” during a religious service this Sunday at Plymouth Church in Ohio, “to honor the life of a woman whose legacy is engraved in the hearts of those who believe in justice, compassion, and peace,” she said.
She recalled that “her journey with Cuba began through the Cuban Council of Churches and was strengthened in 1966, when she met the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.”
As the decades passed, she said, her connection to our nation deepened, as evidenced more clearly than ever before “during the moving story of Elián González,” the Cuban boy who, after a shipwreck in November 1999, was held hostage in Miami for several months.
“Reverend Campbell’s support was instrumental in the boy’s return to his family in Cuba (on June 28, 2000). Fidel himself referred to her as a ‘midwife’ in this process, helping to bring forth a moment of healing and truth,” the diplomat emphasized.
Torres recalled that in 1999, from Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución, Reverend Campbell declared with clarity and conviction: “For people of faith, there are no embargoes. There are no barriers.”
She added that, while the reverend welcomed the resumption of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States in 2015 as a significant step, she warned that the lifting of the blockade remained “the unfinished work of justice.”
Her legacy lives on in every act of solidarity, every brave word, and every bridge built between our peoples, the head of the Cuban Mission stated, hoping that “her example continues to inspire us to work for a world rooted in understanding and compassion.”
“May she rest in peace, knowing that his legacy lives on in all of us,” she concluded.
Following his death, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote on the social network X that Campbell “represented the noblest sentiments of solidarity of the American people.”
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez also highlighted the reverend’s work as former president of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States and her tireless commitment to humanitarian causes.
Reverend Joan Campbell passed away on March 29 in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. She was 93.
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