US-Cuba Sister Cities Association
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United States * Regional Recommendations * City-to-State, State- to- Province

To designate workable sister city links between Cuban cities, and cities of every size in the US, Cuba and USCSCA over the past several years, have devised an ingenious system that involves layers of partnerships at the municipality, city and provincial levels. USCSCA embraces this system because it adroitly responds to the needs of all participants and represents Cuba's active role in the sister city process.

The island of Cuba is primarily agrarian with a total of only 169 cities nationwide. It has just a handful of large cities, usually one within each of the fifteen provinces. We have had to be creative to accommodate the widespread interest throughout the US to build long term, sustainable relationships with a community in Cuba.

How could we offer equity of opportunity to everyone; especially our Cuban counterparts? After many consultations, conferences and discussions; taking into consideration the reality in the US that most US efforts are severely hampered by present US prohibitions on trade and travel, it seemed important to network in the US to maximize our individual potential.

Working regionally was deemed most desirable and expedient, with the long-term goal of building state-to-province relationships. Pennsylvania, using this model, has become the first official state-to-province relationship. We expect others to rapidly follow suit.

Each group would have a separate "city" within the province, but all would share in the resources of the whole province; thus everyone has equal access to a large city. The challenge is not solely the place, or past connections, but what we make of future opportunities. USCSCA respectfully recommends that you seek your twin within the following regional guidelines:

USA States/ Regions Seek Twins With Cuban Province

USCSCA Regional Coordinators: (see webpage - www.USCSCA.org)

Lisa Valanti - uscsca@aol.com /412-563-1519 - Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Sancti Spiritus & Ciego de Avila

Ricardo Gonzalez - cardinalbar@globaldialog.com /608-242-8262 - Camaguey, Las Tunas & Holgiun

Jill Shinault - JAShinault@aol.com /334-473-8775 - Pinar del Rio, Havana Province & Ciudad de la Habana

Clare T.Weaver - ctweaver@worldnet.att.net /415-441-6972 - Granma, Santiago de Cuba & Guantanamo

Finally, "A sister city, county or state relationship is a broad-based, officially approved, long-term partnership between two communities, counties or states in two countries. A sister city, county or state relationship becomes official with a signing ceremony of the top-elected officials of the two local jurisdictions, following approval by the local city councils (county commissions or state legislatures), as appropriate. Sister city partnerships have the potential to carry out the widest possible diversity of activities of any international program, including every type of municipal, business, professional, educational and cultural exchange or project. Sister city programs are also unique in that they inherently involve the three main sectors in a community: local government, businesses, and a wide variety of citizen volunteers (and civil society or non-profit organizations)." As per SCI.

A sister city does not mean that other viable links cannot exist in other areas of the island; it is not an either/or. So groups with existing relationships need not relinquish or abandon the preexisting relationships, it just means that the official relationship would exist in the area most viable for Cuba.

Sincerely,

Lisa Valanti
President
US-CUBA Sister Cities Association, Inc.

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Last modified: June 11, 2004