16th Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba

International Action Alert - Help us get the caravan aid to the people of Cuba!

AID DESTINED FOR CHILDREN IN CUBA SEIZED BY U.S. CUSTOMS! Call the U.S. Embassy and Demand The Release of the Aid!!

On Thursday July 21st, US Customs and Border Protection officers, acting on instructions from the US Department of Commerce, seized 43 boxes of computer equipment - toner, cables, calculators, modems, keyboards, 2 printers, and a dozen computers - headed to Cuban children from the 16th Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravan. A group of seven caravanistas have remained on the U.S./Mexico border in Hidalgo, Texas to build an international campaign to free the computer equipment for delivery to Cuba.

Each year, the Pastors for Peace Caravan delivers hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid and good will to our neighbor nation Cuba. But this year, according to reliable sources, the order came from high up in the Bush Administration to stop Pastors for Peace from delivering the aid. In fact, most of the 11-vehicle/150 member caravan crossed the border early Friday morning after an extended search of the almost 140 tons of humanitarian aid. However, the struggle is not over yet-We Need Your Help!

"We are committed to delivering the computers donated by generous US citizens to Cuban children with special needs; and we ask for your help immediately," said Reverend Lucius Walker, founder and director of IFCO/Pastors for Peace.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

• Contact your Government Officials, and urge them to call the US Embassy and demand that the aid be released and allowed to continue on to Cuba!
• Call the US Embassy with a message for Michael D. Turner, Director of Export Enforcement for the US Department of Commerce and Wendy Wysong, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Commerce, of Export Enforcement; ask them to let the computers equipment go and allow it to continue on to Cuba!
• Ask your church or congregation to sign on to our Pastoral Letter in support of releasing the aid and allowing it to continue on to Cuba.
• Organize a solidarity prayer vigil on Wednesday, July 27. Our Prayer Vigil will be taking place on the Hidalgo- Reynosa International Bridge, Wednesday, 4:30- 6:30pm
• Organize a rally in front of the US Embassy (if there is not a US Embassy, perhaps a US Office) in your country. Demand the return of the computers!
• Spread the word!

For more information, visit the Pastors For Peace website, www.pastorsforpeace.org