Havana, May 13 (RHC) – U.S. religious leaders have called on President Barack Obama to take action and improve relations between Washington and Havana.

In a letter addressed to the U.S. president, Protestant Christians from the National Council of Churches, U.S.A., Presbyterian churches and other congregations urged him to initiate a good faith dialog with Cuba.

Such dialog should take into account the concern of Cubans about the current U.S. policy towards their country, including the incarceration for over 15 years of three Cubans, who were originally part of five, who were given prison sentences for fighting terrorism.

The religious leaders also say that U.S.-designed programs such as the so-called Zunzuneo are ineffective and wrong. They added that in the interest of advancing the establishment of relations, U.S. church leaders call for a high-level dialog to address a wide gamut of issues, including the Cuban anti-terrorists and U.S. citizen Alan Gross.

They also say that the talks should include the emission of general travel licenses in all categories and withdraw Cuba from the U.S. list of states sponsors of terrorism, which is a irritating and unnecessary issue.