Going to Cuba: Pastors for Peace

Pastors for Peace "caravanistas" stopped in Corvallis today to present information about the caravan and its purpose.

This project was founded by the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) in 1988. The participants deliver humanitarian aid - mostly medical and educational supplies and also other items - to Cuba, challenging the US economic blockade (and travel restrictions imposed on US citizens by the US government). It also serves as a way to build a network of supporters and to educate people about the blockade.

They will get to Cuba on July 24 after crossing from Texas to Mexico. Watch the media for information around July 21 - that is when they expect to get to the US/Mexico border. In prior years, they were refused permission to cross but after engaging in lengthy fasts, finally got across. Learn more about the IFCO and the caravan and how you can support them at www.pastorsforpeace.org. You can also call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 to say that you support Pastors for Peace, normalized relations with Cuba, an end to the blockade, and freedom for the Cuban 5.

Another speaker, from the National Committe to Free the Cuban Five, told us about the cases of the five Cubans who have been imprisoned in the US in various prisons for the last 11 years. They were convicted unjustly in US federal court in 2001 on conspiring to commit espionage and other related charges, in spite of their actions which were solely to monitor Miami-based terrorist groups in order to stop the terrorist attacks on Cuba. There are many ways to help with this issue, which most Americans are ignorant about. See www.freethefive.org.