Rochester Sends Aid to Cuba, Defies U.S. Embargo

Rochester Sends Aid to Cuba, Defies U.S. Embargo <!--break--> (July 3, 2003) This morning a group of activists, organized by the Rochester Committee on Latin America (ROCLA), loaded the Pastors for Peace truck en route to Cuba with over $2000 for medicines as well as boxes of prostheses, infant medications, computers and bicycles, all donated by members of the community. Rochester is one of 115 U.S. cities taking part in the U.S./Cuba Friendshipments organized by Pastors for Peace. This project is in its fourteenth year and has so far delivered 2,250 tons of humanitarian aid to Cuba. By crossing the U.S./Mexico border without government approval the caravan challenges 41-year embargo on trade and travel to Cuba by refusing to apply for special licensing required by the US government. This &#8220;people&#8217;s foriegn policy project&#8221; rejects the policies of the current administration and considers the embargo as &#8220;putting a pretty face on its genocidal policy.&#8221; Rochester&#8217;s own Raging Grannies (www.rochesterraginggrannies.org) were present to entertain and inspire the volunteers loading the truck. To the tune of &#8220;Camptown Races&#8221; they sang: &#8220;Bush says we can&#8217;t travel there &#8216;Cause THEY don&#8217;t have freedom. But if WE&#8217;RE not free to travel there Then what have we become?&#8221; (words by Judy Halley and Vicki Lewin Ryder) ROCLA leader Peter Mott, M.D., had previously visited Cuba with the Friendshipments. &#8220;By crossing the border with humanitarian aid for Cuba we are performing a non-violent direct action in the tradition of Gandhi. Those taking part in the caravan risk ten years in prison and a quarter-million dollar fine for breaking the U.S. embargo. They are stopped at the border by U.S. customs agents first and are told they can&#8217;t cross. So they wait there until international clamour causes them to let the caravan through.&#8221; Pastors for Peace has already notified the authorities that the trucks will be at the border on July 12. This year there will be 100 volunteers with 500 tons of humanitarian aid. &#8220;What I saw in Cuba were the terrible results of the embargo.&#8221; Dr. Mott continued. &#8220;I was free to walk around anywhere in Havanna. I went by myself to schools, doctors&#8217; offices and pharmacies and saw that they had almost no medicines. The health care system is well-distributed to everybody. At the schools there were lots of teachers, but no supplies, like chalk and books. Still their students went on to law and medical schools. The water system there used to be pure and clean, but it needs parts from the U.S. to keep operating. Now the water is contaminated and children are dying of diarrhea. When I was there a young man died of asthma because they have no medicine.&#8221; This is the third caravan trip for Miguel, the truck driver. &#8220;The U.S government knows that we are serious about getting over the border. We have ten truck routes through the U.S and Canada. Even Greenpeace donated a bus between Maine and Montreal. There will be about 40 stops in various cities with rallies and speaking events.&#8221; There is also an exchange with Cuba. Three years ago Cuba donated to the U.S. a rat poison that doesn&#8217;t affect other species. It was developed by Cubans and is used all over the world. It was confiscated by the U.S. coming in at the border. The Friendshipment caravans are organized by Pastors for Peace, a project of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO). Executive Director Rev. Lucius Walker, Jr., issued a statement on the U.S. licensing requirment: &#8220;IFCO/Pastors for Peace rejects this licensing system as both immoral and illegal. It is immoral because it endangers the lives of Cubans and inflicts suffering on innocent children as well as adults. It is illegal under international law because it uses a sanction to be imposed only in time of war against a declared enemy in order to force another nation to change its government. Licensing is also unconstitutional because it requires people of faith to submit their acts of conscience and friendship to government licensing, in violation of our right to freedom of religious expression, political thought, association and travel.&#8221; In other news, the U.S. Defense Department is sending equipment and materials to construct prisons and execution chambers to Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay where prisoners from Afghanistan are being held under questionable authority.

<p>Rochester Sends Aid to Cuba, Defies U.S. Embargo</p> <!--break--><p>(July 3, 2003) This morning a group of activists, organized by the Rochester Committee on Latin America (ROCLA), loaded the Pastors for Peace truck en route to Cuba with over $2000 for medicines as well as boxes of prostheses, infant medications, computers and bicycles, all donated by members of the community.</p> <p>Rochester is one of 115 U.S. cities taking part in the U.S./Cuba Friendshipments organized by Pastors for Peace. This project is in its fourteenth year and has so far delivered 2,250 tons of humanitarian aid to Cuba. By crossing the U.S./Mexico border without government approval the caravan challenges 41-year embargo on trade and travel to Cuba by refusing to apply for special licensing required by the US government. This “people’s foriegn policy project” rejects the policies of the current administration and considers the embargo as “putting a pretty face on its genocidal policy.”</p> <p>Rochester’s own Raging Grannies (<a href="http://www.rochesterraginggrannies.org">www.rochesterraginggrannies.org</a>) were present to entertain and inspire the volunteers loading the truck. To the tune of “Camptown Races” they sang:<br /> “Bush says we can’t travel there<br /> ‘Cause THEY don’t have freedom.<br /> But if WE’RE not free to travel there<br /> Then what have we become?”<br /> (words by Judy Halley and Vicki Lewin Ryder)</p> <p>ROCLA leader Peter Mott, M.D., had previously visited Cuba with the Friendshipments. “By crossing the border with humanitarian aid for Cuba we are performing a non-violent direct action in the tradition of Gandhi. Those taking part in the caravan risk ten years in prison and a quarter-million dollar fine for breaking the U.S. embargo. They are stopped at the border by U.S. customs agents first and are told they can’t cross. So they wait there until international clamour causes them to let the caravan through.” Pastors for Peace has already notified the authorities that the trucks will be at the border on July 12. This year there will be 100 volunteers with 500 tons of humanitarian aid.</p> <p>“What I saw in Cuba were the terrible results of the embargo.” Dr. Mott continued. “I was free to walk around anywhere in Havanna. I went by myself to schools, doctors’ offices and pharmacies and saw that they had almost no medicines. The health care system is well-distributed to everybody. At the schools there were lots of teachers, but no supplies, like chalk and books. Still their students went on to law and medical schools. The water system there used to be pure and clean, but it needs parts from the U.S. to keep operating. Now the water is contaminated and children are dying of diarrhea. When I was there a young man died of asthma because they have no medicine.”</p> <p>This is the third caravan trip for Miguel, the truck driver. “The U.S government knows that we are serious about getting over the border. We have ten truck routes through the U.S and Canada. Even Greenpeace donated a bus between Maine and Montreal. There will be about 40 stops in various cities with rallies and speaking events.” </p> <p>There is also an exchange with Cuba. Three years ago Cuba donated to the U.S. a rat poison that doesn’t affect other species. It was developed by Cubans and is used all over the world. It was confiscated by the U.S. coming in at the border. </p> <p>The Friendshipment caravans are organized by Pastors for Peace, a project of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO). Executive Director Rev. Lucius Walker, Jr., issued a statement on the U.S. licensing requirment: “IFCO/Pastors for Peace rejects this licensing system as both immoral and illegal. It is immoral because it endangers the lives of Cubans and inflicts suffering on innocent children as well as adults. It is illegal under international law because it uses a sanction to be imposed only in time of war against a declared enemy in order to force another nation to change its government. Licensing is also unconstitutional because it requires people of faith to submit their acts of conscience and friendship to government licensing, in violation of our right to freedom of religious expression, political thought, association and travel.”</p> <p>In other news, the U.S. Defense Department is sending equipment and materials to construct prisons and execution chambers to Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay where prisoners from Afghanistan are being held under questionable authority.</p>