July 7, 2009 - No. 132

20th Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba July 3-August 3, 2009

Hands Off Cuba! End the U.S. Blockade of Cuba!
Free the Cuban Five!

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

• Hands Off Cuba! End the U.S. Blockade of Cuba!
• Help Cuba Rebuild After the Hurricanes - IFCO/Pastors for Peace
• Worldwide Demonstrations Denounce U.S. Supreme Court Decision and Demand Freedom for the Cuban Five
• Alarcón: We Should Redouble Efforts in Favour of the Cuban Five
• Message from René Gonzalez
• International Committee to Free the Cuban Five Press Statement
• Venceremos Brigade Press Statement

For Your Information
• A Brief History of the U.S./Cuba Friendshipment Caravan Campaign - IFCO/Pastors for Peace

20th Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba July 3-August 3, 2009

Hands Off Cuba! End the U.S. Blockade of Cuba!

From July 3 to August 3, the Interreligous Foundation for Community Organization/Pastors for Peace is sending its 20th Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba. The Caravan is made up of ordinary Canadians, Americans and people from other countries, bringing humanitarian aid to Cuba in support of the Cuban people and their Revolution. Already, various contingents have started south on their way to Cuba through BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Ontario, collecting goods for Cuba and mobilizing opposition to the U.S. blockade.

For six decades the U.S. has maintained a hostile policy towards Cuba as vengence for the Cuban people's rejection of U.S. domination, in which Cuba's revolutionaries lead by Comrade Fidel overthrew the U.S. puppet Fulgencio Batista and chose their own political system which enshrines the primacy of human rights and dignity as the basis for the organization and development of their society. This hostile policy has manifested in open acts of aggression by the U.S. such as invasion, terrorism, biological warfare and a nearly fifty-year blockade. The blockade has not only prevented Cuba from receiving essential goods, services, finances and fully participating in international trade, but also severely restricted travel by ordinary Americans wishing to experience Cuba and its Revolution, as well as preventing Cuban-Americans from freely visiting family members.

The Friendshipment Caravan is an act of solidarity with the Cuban people in direct defiance of the U.S. imperialist blockade. It provides much needed medication, equipment, educational materials, vehicles and more. It is a reflection of the internationalist spirit of the Cuban Revolution which has provided immeasurable assistance to the people's of the world. It is also a reflection of the internationalist spirit of ordinary Canadians and Americans who do not accept the U.S. government's destructive role in the world based on its dictate of "might makes right" and who wish to have principled relations of mutual benefit with Cuba and other countries.

IFCO/Pastors for Peace points out:

"No matter how much humanitarian aid we collect, it could never remotely assuage the damage that is being done to the Cuban people, especially to Cuban children, by the US blockade. Rather, the act of collecting and sending aid is combined with intentional media and political work that educates the public about the inhumane nature of the blockade and demonstrates to our policymakers and legislators that there is a broad-based international coalition of people of conscience who demand an end to this genocidal policy."

While official exemptions are possible to circumvent the blockade, "IFCO/Pastors for Peace does not apply for a license to deliver humanitarian aid Cuba. The U.S. government has used the licensing procedure to serve its own public relations purposes by giving the impression that its helping Cuba while giving minimal aid and NO Trade. Accepting a license would run counter to our moral values and put us in complicity with the US government's presumption of power to use food and medicine as tools in its war against Cuba."

Since the first Friendshipment Caravan in 1992, organizers and participants have dealt with not only day-to-day difficulties to fulfill their aim, but have overcome direct attacks from the U.S. government. Building on each experience, from the first such caravan in 1992, each subsequent Friendshipment has gone a step further in organizing more participants, sending more aid or targeting a particular need identified by Cuba as most pressing at that time. The 20th Friendshipment has been specifically asked to prioritize construction supplies for the ongoing reconstruction effort after the three devastating hurricanes that hit Cuba in the fall of 2008 (see below for details).

Canadian organizers point out that, "Last year our goal was to raise $10,000 to purchase a bus, make repairs if needed, buy extra parts and pay for the fuel for delivery. [...] This year our aim is to raise $15,000 Canadian. [...] We are confident, that if we are united, we can reach it. [...] With this caravan we hope to continue this humanitarian support, but -- above all -- we want the caravan to expose, break and help to end the cruel, unjust, illegal U.S. blockade which has caused so much devastation to the Cuban revolution."

In this issue, TML is posting information and events concerning the Caravan plus material on the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to deny the Cuban Five a review of their case.

Help Cuba Rebuild After The Hurricanes

- IFCO/Pastors for Peace -

Three hurricanes hit Cuba in the fall of 2008. Only 7 people died thanks to the massive evacuation measures undertaken by the Cuban authorities. But the damage to crops and buildings was enormous -- estimated to be $10 billion, which amounts to $900 for every Cuban. 60,000 houses were destroyed and almost half a million damaged -- that's about 20% of Cuba's entire housing stock.

Cuba has already repaired a quarter of the damaged homes, but it urgently needs physical resources -- tools and construction supplies. The best thing we in the U.S. can do to assist the reconstruction is to get the economic blockade lifted so that the Cuban government can purchase needed supplies that are so close at hand in the U.S. -- which is why we in IFCO/Pastors for Peace are organizing a U.S.-Cuba Friendshipment Caravan this July to openly challenge the blockade. But as part of the challenge we are collecting tools and construction supplies to take with us as a humanitarian donation.

We particularly need the following construction supplies:

Plumbing: nuts, bolts, washers and all thread, plastic pipe fittings, toilets, sinks, faucets, PVC plastic fittings, copper fittings and valves, drains and stoppers, pipes, shower fixtures

Carpentry: nails, hammers, screws, drills, flashing, wall anchors, saws and saw blades, banding tools, door hanging tools, ladders, jacks, plaster, sandpaper

Electrical: any electrical wiring, fasteners, electrical boxes and covers, electrician tools, energy efficient lighting and bulbs, extension cords and adapters, generators, electric line testers, electrical tape

Masonry: grouts, sealants, horizontal reinforcing, masonry admixtures, concrete, masonry hand tools (floats, trowels), chisels (wood and masonry)

Painting: brushes, rollers, lead-free paint, brush extenders, paint plates

Protective Gear: dust masks, work gloves, protective eyeglasses

Cash: To send aid in an efficient way we need groups and organizations to take on collecting the aid and raising the cash to pay for sending it in one of our caravan school buses or trucks.

The Caravan will take in general:

Vehicles: School buses, ambulances, trucks, pick-ups, mobile libraries (bookmobiles) -- diesel & stick shift preferred -- in good condition and with at least several years of life left in them.

Computers: IBM compatible computers with Pentium III or better processors, and all computer accessories/peripherals. Must be in full working order. All types of printers but especially Epson LX 300 and HP laser jet 1200

Educational supplies: All types of educational materials including for writing on and with etc (but pen, pencils, paper etc must be new/unused)

Medical equipment/supplies/medicines: All kinds if equipment in good working order, supplies sterile and supplies/medicines with expiry date Feb 1, 2010 or later

Books: Medical and scientific textbooks and journals in Spanish or English

Alternative transportation/energy equipment: e.g. bicycles (good condition), solar panels

Sports/arts/cultural equipment: All kinds if in good condition.

Musical Equipment: Musical instruments especially, DJ equipment, sound equipment

Bibles: All Bibles must be in Spanish.

Food: Powdered milk, infant formula, dietary supplements -- in original factory-sealed containers. .

Car mechanics tools: Tools must be in good condition or new.

Home supplies: Factory new clothing in bulk quantities.

Because it is inappropriate or because Mexican customs won't let it through, the Caravan will not take

- Anything that is not in good working order or is rusty
- Medication and medical supplies that have already expired or will reach their expiry date before February 1, 2010
- Medication and medical supplies that have been opened
- Computers older than Pentium III (about 7 years old) or that are not IBM compatible
- Books, in English or Spanish, that are not medical or scientific text books/journals
- Any clothing, sheets, towels, etc. that are not enclosed in their original packaging.
- Used paper
- Canned food

To participate in the work of the Caravan, visit the IFCO/Pastors for Peace website or see the Calendar of Events for upcoming Canadian stops.

In Canada, contributions can be sent to:

The Mackenzie-Papineau Memorial Fund
56 Riverwood Terrace
Bolton, ON L7E 1S4

Contributions for this campaign must be clearly labeled that they are to go towards "Caravan to Cuba" in the memo line. People who require a tax receipt must request one and include their full name, address and telephone number.

Worldwide Demonstrations Denounce
U.S. Supreme Court Decision and
Demand Freedom for the Cuban Five

Montreal, June 11, 2009

On June 15, the U.S. Supreme Court declined a request to review the case of the Cuban Five, in spite of an unprecedented number of amicus curiae (friends of the court) submissions from parliamentarians from around the world and internationally-known personalities. Following the negative decision, activists around the world took immediate action organizing demonstrations and other actions calling on President Barack Obama to correct this injustice and Free the Five Now! Actions took place in Havana, Cuba, in Montreal and Vancouver, throughout the United States in Atlanta, San Diego and San Francisco as well as Venezuela, Germany, Lebanon, New Zealand and elsewhere. Many actions were also organized prior to the June 15 ruling to reiterate to the court the international demand to free the Cuban Five. TML is posting below photos from these actions.

Havana, Cuba, June 18, 2009: Cuban youth rally at the flag memorial to Cuban victims of terrorism outside the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Right: President of the Cuban Parliament Ricardo Alarcón attends the rally.

San Francisco; San Diego, United States

Caracas, Venezuela

Berlin, Germany

Akwar, Lebanon; Wellington, New Zealand

Alarcón: We Should Redouble Efforts
in Favour of the Cuban Five

Following the June 15 refusal of the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case of the Cuban Five, President of the Cuban Parliament Ricardo Alarcón said it is time to redouble efforts in demanding the release of five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters, who remain unjustly imprisoned in the United States.

"Today is a day of shame and anger. Shame for those who believe in the justice of the U.S. system, and anger for the thousands around the world who asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case," Alarcón said. He pointed out that people in the United States do not have the right to appeal to the Supreme Court and that this body only accepts reviewing 1-2 percent of such requests.

Alarcón recalled that the U.S. Supreme Court had never before received a request for a review supported by 10 Nobel Prize laureates, full Parliaments (Mexico and Panama), European and world parliamentarians, as well as by the main associations of jurists of the world and the United States and the former UN Human Rights Commission.

"The judges chose to do what the Obama administration requested them to do: refusing to review the case of the Five. That is why it is a day of shame and anger," Alarcón stressed.

The President of the Cuban Parliament pointed out that "the best answer to this decision is to multiply our demands to the U.S. Government and its President, Barack Obama, so that they do what they have to do and that is simply to release these five men who should have never been imprisoned."

Alarcón insisted that this should be the decision of the U.S. President "if we are to believe that there is any change and renovation in the rhetoric of the current White House incumbent."

In a June 17 interview with U.S. radio program Democracy Now!, Alarcón elaborated on the significance of the court's refusal. Posted below are excerpts from the interview, conducted by Amy Goodman.

***

Ricardo Alarcón: Well, good morning, Amy and Juan and everybody listening there.

I would say that it is a very sad decision that was taken, if you remember that, at the request of the U.S. administration, that in May, well after the new administration had assumed office, it urged the Supreme Court to deny review.

I would like to also clarify one point. It is said that they were accused or found guilty of spying, seeking information on military installations and all that. But let's remember that what we were appealing or trying to review at the Supreme Court was the decision that had been affirmed by the Court of Appeals of the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, September 2008. That was a negative decision, unfair, because it didn't end the whole process.

But it also had some positive facts. In that determination, the Court of Appeals said five times that nothing involving the national security of the U.S. was involved in this case, that they didn't gather or transmit secret information affecting U.S. national security. That is why the Court of Appeals decided to vacate the sentences of three of them and order a resentencing process, which is now probably the next step in this slow, long case. But that means that after ten years of discussions and appeals and so on, that a lower court, the Atlanta court, unanimously recognized what we had been saying all along, that they were not doing anything against the U.S., that their only role was to penetrate terrorist groups that had been operating for many years from Miami against Cuba.

And there is much evidence to [support] that. I don't need to go through all the facts that you know very well. Mr. Luis Posada Carriles is still moving freely, at large, in the U.S. territory. He has not been extradited to Venezuela, where he was tried for the destruction -- the first case in history -- of a civil airplane in mid-air. And he has not been prosecuted for that, for that crime in the U.S. [...] The persons who tried to learn about Mr. Posada Carriles and others like him, their plans against Cuba, they are in prison. And Mr. Posada, Mr. Bosch and many others are enjoying the good life in America.

That was a very sad conclusion in the legal sphere that sent a very negative message to the Cuban people and to many peoples around the world. [...]

Amy Goodman: [...] I wanted to ask you more broadly about U.S.-Cuba relations under President Obama. Speaking at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago April, Obama called for a, quote, "new beginning with Cuba" and raised hopes for a thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations.

"President Barack Obama: There's been several remarks directed at the issue of the relationship between the United States and Cuba, so let me address this. The United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba. I know that there is a longer -- I know there's a longer journey that must be traveled to overcome decades of mistrust, but there are critical steps we can take toward a new day. I've already changed a Cuba policy that I believe has failed to advance liberty or opportunity for the Cuban people. We will now allow Cuban Americans to visit the islands whenever they choose and provide resources to their families, the same way that so many people in my country send money back to their families in your countries to pay for everyday needs.

"Over the past two years, I've indicated, and I repeat today, that I'm prepared to have my administration engage with the Cuban government on a wide range of issues, from drugs, migration and economic issues, to human rights, free speech and democratic reform. Now, let me be clear, I'm not interested in talking just for the sake of talking. But I do believe that we can move U.S.-Cuban relations in a new direction."

AG: That was President Obama at the Summit of the Americas. Ricardo Alarcón, you're president of the Cuban National Assembly. Your response?

RA: Well, it's very important not to speak just for the sake of speaking. The proof of the pudding is the eating.

He didn't mention, by the way, among the list of issues that may be addressed in this process, terrorism. And more or less at the same time he was saying that in Trinidad and Tobago, he was urging the U.S. Supreme Court not to consider, not to review, the case of the five. He can prove that he doesn't have only words, but deeds, by exercising his authority. He can and should drop immediately the charges brought against the five. Atlanta already recognized that they were not entertaining any espionage activities.

And the other important charge, the one referring to an alleged murder attempt by Gerardo Hernandez, was also recognized by the U.S. administration in a written -- in a document, unprecedented in American history, according to them, that they didn't have any evidence, that they couldn't demonstrate that charge, and asked the court that said this years ago, in 2001, even to drop that charge. And what is it? The President could use those legal arguments, let's say, to exercise justice. He can put in jail Posada Carriles and the terrorists and free those who opposed their actions. That would be a very concrete, simple step to demonstrate that what is coming from the White House are not just words.

By the way, the only concrete thing that he promised was to eliminate the restrictions for traveling by Cuban Americans. But if you go now, Amy, to the U.S. official sources, you can visit in their website, you will see that the regulations are still as they were before. Then they haven't yet taken the necessary step. They talk about that, but still, the regulations, if you read them as they are now, today are exactly as they were before.

AG: Ricardo Alarcón, the question of this couple, Walter Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn, the former State Department analyst and his wife, being charged with spying for the Cuban government. They've pled not guilty to conspiracy and being agents of a foreign government and wire fraud. Your response?

RA: Well, I know only what has been published in the press, and I read the indictment. It's interesting. In the indictment, they only mention one thing: what an FBI agent said that they told him. Apart from that, that this couple had a shortwave radio -- I imagine that they are not the only Americans that have such a thing -- and that they came to Cuba on one occasion. And also, in the media, it is mentioned, a private diary of the lady, in which she expressed certain sentiments about Cuba that are not only her sentiment. Many people also love Cuba and respect us.

Apart from that, the real question, to me, is why, if they had known about those alleged activities for a number of years, they chose to publicize that precisely on the eve of the moment that the Supreme Court was going to deny the review of the Cuban Five case, as it was requested by the same administration that now is accusing this couple in New York[...]

(Agencia Cubana de Noticias, Democracy Now!)

Message from René Gonzalez

- June 19, 2008 -

Dear compatriots; Friends from the world;

Once again the judicial mask of the most hypocritical society that has ever existed falls down exposing the true face of U.S. imperialism and insulting the world conscience with a cynical message: Their own laws will not prevent them from securing the impunity of their own terrorists.

It has not been difficult to understand the meaning of the term change in the jargon of the U.S. establishment -- at least when it refers to Cuba. The web of crimes, genocide, arrogance and meanness that has shaped the psyche of this empire will not be disentangled by the election of a new charismatic president timely drawn out of a still oppressed segment of the American people. To us, the Five, who for over a decade have been treated with despicable viciousness and cowardice, it is but the reiteration of an already familiar moral: It does not matter how low our captors have fallen, they can always prove their infinite capacity to fall even lower.

For our families and for us any time is already too late to do us justice; and the same is true of the decimated native peoples; of the countries whose territories have been usurped; of the millions of human beings burned to death by incendiary bombs, vanished by accomplices to dictatorships, tortured under the advice of Yankee officers or massacred around the world by corporate appetite. It is much too late to do justice to the thousands of victims of terrorism against Cuba, the same terrorism whose prevention is our unforgivable crime.

We, the Five, can be considered fortunate in comparison with those millions of victims; innocent children of all ages; people of every race and creed who under all kinds of ordinary circumstances have become collateral damage; human beings deprived of the basic right to life in the safety of their homes, with their families, who have been suddenly and unexpectedly removed from their daily lives.

We are five soldiers proudly and consciously occupying our trench, who have decided to rise for something rather than to fall for nothing. We are the living mirror of the moral values of a people where the enemy -- helpless and full of rage -- can see its own lack of values, its spiritual poverty, its frail image and all its evils. We are five Cuban revolutionaries the enemy will never subdue, an enemy that will live every day of its life with the humiliation of not understanding why.

To the peoples of the world, the shamelessness of this process is but the repetition of an old lesson: We are facing an empire that will not stop before any crime if it believes it can get away with it. No ethical consideration or universal outcry will make it stop but the price imposed by resistance.

To the Cuban people, the real target of this act of vengeance, it becomes another reason to be united, to not believe in appearances, to always expect the worst from the aggressor, and to never cease in the construction of a society where the hypocrisy, revanchism, indignity, deceit and cowardice that fostered a process like ours are never taken for human virtues, as it is the case in the neighboring empire.

That will be the only measure of justice worthy of all its victims.

Ever Onward to Victory!

International Committee to Free the
Cuban Five Statement

- www.thecuban5.org, June 15, 2009 -

The U.S. Supreme Court has announced that it will not review the case of the five Cuban patriots. This decision prevents our five brothers, unjustly incarcerated for more than 10 years for monitoring terrorist organizations based in Miami, from having even the possibility of a fair and impartial trial outside of Miami.

The same justice system that is rejecting the possibility of reviewing the case of our five brothers, has granted the defense team of international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles a further year of grace to enable it to better prepare its case. This is the same system that has left unpunished dozens of criminal organizations based in Miami. The same system that has failed to investigate a single claim brought against those perpetrating attempts on the lives of our peoples.

It is the same system that has ignored the ruling of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, which declared the imprisonment of the Five arbitrary and illegal. With this decision, the court is making a mockery not only of their defense lawyers' appeal, but also the universal demand of 10 Nobel Prize winners, dozens of jurists, and parliamentarians and organizations from all over the world who expressed in 12 "Friends of the Court" documents the need to review a case plagued with violations since the very moment the Five were arrested.

It comes as no surprise to us from a system that allowed the legalization of the most atrocious torture and which accepts with impunity the fact that, while five innocent men are unjustly imprisoned, criminals like Posada, Bosch, Basulto and Frómeta -- among many others -- freely walk the streets of Miami.

This day will remain marked on our calendars as a day of shame for the U.S. judicial system and of the Obama government's failure to act in the face of terrorist groups that are holding justice to ransom.

It also will be marked as the beginning of the new resistance that from this moment will make itself felt throughout the world until we achieve the freedom of Gerardo, Ramón, René, Antonio and Fernando.

We will no longer wait to hold an International Solidarity Event marking another year of their arrest. It will be expressed in the thousands of ways in which we the peoples know how to transform pain and indignation into struggle, on the streets outside U.S. embassies, in the universities, in Parliaments, in churches, with our modest resources and modest means, but with all the strength that truth and the right give us.

Because we are convinced that, as Gerardo said on hearing the news, "as long as there is even one person fighting on the outside, we will continue resisting until justice is done."

This International Solidarity Event to Free the Five begins today and will be extended every day of our lives until they return home free to their homeland.

We call on our friends in the world to more than ever demand of the Obama government that it end this colossal injustice and order the immediate liberation of the Five.

Venceremos Brigade Statement

- June 17, 2009 -

The Veneceremos Brigade is outraged -- but not surprised -- by the Supreme Court's decision refusing to hear the case of the Cuban 5, five Cubans sent to Miami to monitor terrorist plots against Cuba.

It is our own legal system which has exposed itself -- yet again. After decades of taking no action against the plotters and planners, the assassins and bombers in Miami, it is no surprise that the 'highest court in the land' refuses to even listen to the cries for justice from these Cuban patriots.

These men had not only collected evidence of plots against their own homeland but had also uncovered plans to bomb airplanes headed for Cuba -- including the flights from Miami. This evidence was turned over to the FBI. But instead of rounding up the plotters, they arrested the men who had exposed the plot!

Despite multiple legal infractions, dozens of amicus curiae briefs -- including 10 authored by Noble Prize winners in addition to jurists and parliamentarians, condemnation by the UN Human Rights Commission, and widespread pressure from the international community, the Cuban Five remain incarcerated without the right to a fair trial.

They deserved a fair trial and did not get it. Now they deserve their immediate freedom to return to their wives, children, and families after ten years of arbitrary and cruel imprisonment.

In the eyes of much of the world, our legal 'justice' system stands for Abu Graib, Guantanamo, indefinite detention, and torture. Yet the United States dares to speak to Cuba about political prisoners, a politicized justice system, and most importantly -- freedom and justice! -- when Gerardo, Ramón, René, Antonio and Fernando remain incarcerated for protecting Cubans and Americans against terrorism organized in the U.S.!

How does the Obama administration expect to turn a new page with Cuba and Latin America when it's Justice Department encouraged the Supreme Court to deny a hearing for the 5, who came here because of our country's history of sponsoring and supporting violence against the people of Cuba and Latin America? That history's legacy can be found in South Florida, where violent right-wing Cuban-American groups operate freely. That is where the Cuban Five were sent and this is where they were denied justice.

Cuba has declared over and over again that it holds no animosity against the American people and is willing to normalize relations with the U.S. government. Cuba's only prerequisite: mutual respect for each country's sovereignty. President Obama holds that the Cuban people's freedom is a prerequisite and now he has an opportunity to do just that by freeing the Cuban 5 today!

The Supreme Court has failed to act. We demand that President Obama immediately pardon the Cuban 5!

The Venceremos ("We shall overcome") Brigade is a 40-year old anti-imperialist education and work project which advocates the end of the U.S. travel ban and economic blockade against Cuba.

For Your Information

A Brief History of the U.S./Cuba
Friendshipment Caravan Campaign

- IFCO/Pastors for Peace -

With each Friendshipment caravan, with each successive effort to challenge the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba, the U.S. government has been compelled to back down, to relent, to soften its enforcement of the blockade. As this chronology demonstrates, active nonviolence has been a winning strategy:

The First Friendshipment Caravan

Traveled in November 1992. 100 caravanistas carried 15 tons of simple humanitarian aid -- powdered milk, medicines, Bibles, bicycles, and school supplies. The US government had never before seen a direct grassroots challenge to the blockade, and they responded with force. CNN cameras filmed US Treasury officers assaulting a Catholic priest who was carrying Bibles to take to Cuba. Our emergency response network, and the CNN coverage, prompted thousands of calls to Washington from around the US; the caravan was allowed to cross.

Friendshipment II (summer 1993)

Had 300 participants -- 65 of them Cuban Americans -- and 100 tons of aid -- including medicines, school buses, computers, medical equipment, and other items deliberately chosen to challenge the blockade. US Treasury officials seized a little yellow schoolbus at the Laredo border, saying that "Fidel Castro might take a liking to it and use it as a military vehicle." The 13 caravanistas who were on board the bus when it was seized decided to stay on the bus and to fast until it was released. Their hunger strike lasted 23 days, during which time an international campaign of pressure on Washington was mounted by our emergency response network. Demonstrations were held in 20 cities, thousands of calls and faxes went to Washington, and a solidarity fast was held in front of the US Interests Section in Havana. Active nonviolence won the day; the intense pressure mounted by our network eventually caused the US government to relent. The Little Yellow School Bus has been serving the Ebenezer Baptist Church and the Martin Luther King Center in Havana since 1993.

Friendshipments III, IV, and V

Each were intended to intensify the challenge in a new way. Each of these caravans brought some new item of technology -- a satellite dish, solar panels, etc. -- to further challenge the blockade, along with hundreds of tons of aid and hundreds of drivers.

Friendshipment VI (1996)

Was supposed to be a simple "mini-caravan" to deliver a shipment of 400 donated medical computers -- 286s and XTs, nearly obsolete by U.S. standards. These computers were to serve as communications terminals for an island-wide medical information network, which would make it possible for Cuban doctors to locate scarce medicines and have access to consultation and treatment data. The U.S. government, in its most brutal confrontation to date, attacked the caravan and seized all the computers. In response, and in the name of reconciliation and peace, five caravan participants consecrated a "Fast for Life" on February 21, 1996. They fasted for 32 days in a tent on the San Diego border where the computers had been seized. Then they moved their fast to Washington, DC and pitched their tent across the street from the U.S. Capitol. As the Fast continued, the campaign for the release of the computers reached unprecedented levels. International organizations from Europe, Africa, and Latin America pledged that they would send a total of 1400 computers, in solidarity with Cuba and with the Fast for Life. As pressure from our national network mounted, 70 members of Congress joined the effort and actively advocated for the release of the computers. The Treasury Secretary and the National Security Adviser received so many phone calls from our supporters that they had to change their phone numbers. White House staffers indicated that, at the height of the campaign, the White House was receiving a phone call every four minutes demanding that the computers be released and sent to Cuba. On Day 94 of the Fast, the U.S. Treasury Department released the computers to the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church. They were delivered to Cuba in September 1996, and now make up 40% of the INFOMED network, where they provide life-giving medical information for Cuban doctors.

Friendshipment VII

Was dedicated to the children of Cuba, and delivered 500 tons of aid -- including a mobile library equipped with a Pentium computer, a pediatric ambulance, four school buses, and other sophisticated medical and educational aid. In San Diego, the caravan's western contingent was ambushed and attacked by a band of right-wing Cuban American terrorists; but the Treasury Department relented and allowed the whole shipment to cross without a license.

Friendshipment VIII (July 1998)

This caravan was dedicated to the children and elders of Cuba. One hundred and sixty five volunteers from across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and six European countries participated in this caravan. The aid delivered included three bookmobiles, two ambulances, five school buses, Pentium computers, pediatric and geriatric medicines, and raw materials that will enable Cuba to manufacture $385,000 worth of life-saving antibiotics.

Friendshipment IX (July 1999)

In honor of Cuba's unrelenting commitment to provide free health services for the poorest people of the world, our ninth caravan was dedicated to Cuba's doctors and nurses. We delivered millions of dollars' worth of sophisticated medical aid and equipment; and we visited the brand-new Latin American Medical School, where Cuba was just beginning to train young doctors for the nations devastated by Hurricanes Mitch and Georges.

Friendshipment X (July 2000)

Dedicated to Cuba's students and athletes, the caravan delivered educational aid and sports equipment in addition to valuable hospital equipment, an ambulance, and several school buses. Participants included the Lost Coast Pirates, a California baseball team of 10- to 12-year-old boys who played a three-game series with kids in Cuba.

Friendshipment XI (November 2000)

Members of our eleventh caravan participated in Cuba's Second World Solidarity Conference, and in a bicycle trip to western Cuba. In honor of Cuba's innovations in alternative energy, we delivered solar panels and equipment which will provide electricity for two rural schools in the mountains of Pinar del Rio.

Friendshipment XII (July 2001)

Celebrating Cuba's innovations in alternative energy and transportation, 95 caravan participants delivered 80 tons of aid -- including a 53-foot trailer packed with medical supplies and a bikemobile fully equipped for repairing bicycles. And for the first time ever, this caravan included a "reverse challenge" in which Cuban-made products were brought back to the US to be given to community-based groups. Packages of BioRat, a biological rodenticide developed in Cuba and successfully used in Cuba, China and Bolivia, were retained by US Customs and IFCO/Pastors for Peace continues to fight for the release of the product. In the meanwhile, Cuban-made solar equipment will be used to electrify a Native American reservation in California.

Friendshipment XIII (July 2002)

This caravan celebrated Cuba's achievements in health and healing for its people and the peoples of the world. We once again visited the Latin American School of Medical Sciences, this time to meet the dozens of U.S. students, recruited by IFCO, who are studying on full Cuban scholarships to serve as doctors in medically under-served areas of the U.S. The caravan also met with family members of the five Cuban heroes who are wrongly imprisoned in US jails for defending their homeland against Miami- based terrorist groups. A further reverse challenge successfully brought back to the US a donation of Cuban coffee, honey and bee pollen.

Friendshipment XIV (July 2003)

125 caravanistas traveled to Santiago de Cuba to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the revolution, as part of a joint travel challenge with the Venceremos Brigade. The caravan delivered 80 tons of aid in support of Cuba's comprehensive national program to care for the elders of Cuba. For the third year running Cuban products were brought back to the US.

Friendshipment XV (July 2004)

In spite of increased travel restrictions to Cuba by the Bush administration and under the threat of being fined, the 125 members of the 15th Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba successfully carried 126 tons of humanitarian aid to Cuba calling for REGIME CHANGE AT HOME NOT IN CUBA!!!

Friendshipment XVI (July 2005)

This caravan, with 145 caravanistas, included 5 donated school buses that were decorated in honor of the 5 Cuban heroes who are still unjustly imprisoned in US jails for defending their homeland against Miami-based terrorist groups. The caravan also honored Cuba's commitment to caring for all of its people including those with special needs, and delivered 140 tons of aid despite the US Customs seizing 45 boxes of computer equipment destined for children with learning difficulties. IFCO/Pastors for Peace campaigned successfully for the ultimate release of the seized computers.

Friendshipment XVII (July 2006)

This caravan was dedicated to Cuban children with special needs and the aid delivered included most of the computers destined for them that had been denied passage by US customs the year before. Despite heightened threats of fines from the Bush administration, 100 caravanistas traveled to Cuba, where they were joined by members of the Venceremos Brigade and US-Cuba Labor Exchange for the fourth successful joint travel challenge.

Friendshipment XVIII (July 2007)

135 caravanistas traveled to Cuba in celebration of Cuba's elders. Participants were honored to attend the graduation ceremony for over 1500 students of the Latin American School of Medical Sciences, including 8 graduating US students. This caravan also saw a hiphop without borders exchange with 8 young US hiphop artists handing over turntables and keyboards to their Cuban equivalents.

Friendshipment XIX (July 2008)

This caravan included the second hip-hop exchange and 5 donated school buses that were decorated in honor of the 5 Cuban heroes who are still unjustly imprisoned in US jails for defending their homeland against Miami-based terrorist groups. US customs seized 32 boxes of computer equipment, but when these were released on the return of the caravan to the US, caravanistas immediately carried all the boxes back into Mexico for onward transportation to Cuba.

Calendar of Events

Community Dinner with IFCO/Pastors for Peace

Hamilton Friendship Association with Cuba is excited to invite healthcare professionals, progressive religious institutions, local activists and all individuals interested in this work to join us for a community dinner with the IFCO/Pastors for Peace on Wednesday, July 8 at 6:00pm. This dinner is an opportunity to discuss directly with them about their important work. Please contact us directly (info@cubacanada.org) if you are interested in knowing the location of this dinner and to RSVP.

Evening Program -- Panel Speakers

We welcome the participation of the Hamilton community in our evening program for the Cuba Caravan. This program will feature presentations by Pastors for Peace representative, Reverend Tom Smith and a report back by members of the Hamilton Friendship Association with Cuba delegation to Cuba in May 2009. The delegation attended an international youth conference on the Five Cuban Heroes and has participated in various other events.

Donations

We welcome any donations from the community to be sent along with the Cuba Caravan. If you would like to make a donation, whether monetary or otherwise, please email us directly (info@cubacanada.org). See above for items needed for this year's Friendshipment.

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