The Pastors for Peace Caravan Arrives in Cuba

The 22nd Pastors for Peace Caravan arrived in Cuba on Friday after touring almost 130 cities and collecting over 100 tons of humanitarian aid for the Caribbean island.

The 107 brigadistas were welcomed at Havana’s Jose Marti Airport by Kenia Serrano, president of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP); Reverend Raul Suarez, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center; and representatives of several political and mass organizations.

Leira Sanchez, head of International Relations of the Young Communists League, told the members of the contingent that the Cuban people and particularly the new generations of Cubans thank them for their effort of not letting the ideas of Reverend Lucius Walker die and for the fact that this convoy of solidarity is dedicated to youngsters.

Likewise, she praised the decision of the visiting friends of continuing with their effort of breaking the blockade imposed by the US on the island for over 50 years now, a task to which the founder of the initiative, Lucius, who died in September, 2010, devoted himself with conviction.

In a press conference, Tom Smith, president of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO), expressed his satisfaction for being in Cuba once again, in a trip he had no doubt would be carried out successfully.

Bill Sales, who travels with his wife, thanked Commander in Chief Fidel Castro for giving their daughter the opportunity to study Medicine in Cuba, and said that both of them are happy for being able to attend her graduation ceremony on Saturday.

The visitors’ program, which will end on July 30, includes exchanges with students, artists, scientists and farmers, and their participation in the graduation ceremony of 20 US youngsters who studied at Havana’s Latin American Medical School.

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Pastors for Peace pass through Mexico 

Also See
> Commitment with Cuba Grows, Say Pastors for Peace
> Pastors for Peace Caravanistas Tour Cuba
> Mores images from PhotosPL

Cuban Bound Pastors for Peace Caravan in Mexico

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The 22nd Pastors for Peace Caravan entered Mexican territory after crossing the Pharr-Reynosa border post, where US customs authorities seized seven computers part of a humanitarian aid delivery for Cuba.

Hector Fraginals, a political adviser at the Cuban embassy, told Prensa Latina that the Caravan members protested against the actions by the US custom agents.

According to Helen Bernstein, acting coordinator of the organization, US authorities confiscated seven computers at the border. For Bernstein, the seizure was nothing new. In 1993, a school bus was held by US customs and released after a 23-day hunger strike by 13 caravan members. In 1996, five people fasted for 93 days for the release of hundreds of computers, and last year five computers donated for Cuban schools were also seized.

Victor Vargas, the Pastors for Peace representative in Mexico, said that the caravan was welcomed by various members of the Mexican Movement of Solidarity with Cuba, among other organizations of support to Cuba, at the Reinosa international bridge, in Tamaulipas.

The more than 100 tons of humanitarian aid for Cuba includes medicines, computers, school materials, portable solar panels, and 14 vehicles.

The caravan is scheduled to arrive in the port city of Tampico, on Thursday, where they will board ships to Cuba with over the humanitarian aid collected in 130 US cities. After crossing the US-Mexico border in Pharr-Reynosa, the group of more than 100 activists reaffirmed its defiance of the US blockade of Cuba, saying "love is our license," in memory of the late Rev. Lucius Walker Jr.

The group, which will visit Cuba from July 22 to 30, plans to meet with students, artists, scientists and farmers, and to attend the graduation ceremony that includes 20 young students from the United States who have been studying at the Latin American School of Medicine – ELAM.

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Cuban Religious Leader Attends Lucius Walker’s Wake

"We think the US blockade of Cuba is against the Holy Scriptures. We dare to say that what Cuba needs the most is our solidarity to break the blockade,"

The funeral of Baptist pastor Lucius Walker took place on September 17, at the Convent Avennue Baptist Church, in Manhattan, New York. Organized by his family, the memorial service was attended by noted religious leaders and American graduates of Havana’s Latin American School of Medicine.

Cuban Presbyterian Pastor Miriam Ofelia, who is also the head of the World Council of Churches for Latin America and the Caribbean and deputy to the Cuban parliament, attended the ceremony on behalf of the Cuban people, who so much loved and admired Walker.

Other Cuban religious leaders were unable to attend the ceremony because their visa applications to enter the United States were granted too late or denied. Such is the case of Reverend Raul Suarez, head of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center; Episcopal Pastor Pablo Oden Marichal, who is also the executive secretary of the Cuban Council of Churches, and Baptist Pastor Estela Hernandez, head of the Pastors for Peace Distribution Commission.

Comrades Fidel Castro and Raul Castro sent wreaths to the brave and faithful friend of Cuba.

Walker, who for died on September 7, was the executive director of the Pastors for Peace Interreligious Foundation for the Organization of the Community, an organization he directed since its foundation in 1967.

He was also the founder and promoter of the Cuba-USA Friendship Caravans, known in Cuba as the Pastors for Peace Caravans, which in 1992 began challenging the US blockade of Cuba by travelling to the island carrying humanitarian aid. "We think the US blockade of Cuba is against the Holy Scriptures. We dare to say that what Cuba needs the most is our solidarity to break the blockade," said Walker once.

> Adios to Lucius Walker Jr. in Harlem

> Lucius Walker is in the Hearts of the Cuban People
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Rev. Lucius Walker: Aug. 3, 1930 - Sept. 7, 2010

It is with profound sadness that we pass along the message below, informing us of the death of our dear friend the Reverend Lucius Walker, a steadfast supporter of Cuba, the Cuban Five, and many other humanitarian causes. Rev. Walker was the originator and driving force behind the 21 Cuba Friendshipment Caravans, which brought solidarity and much more to Cuba from the people of the United States and the world. There will be more news to come.

From IFCO/Pastors for Peace:

It is with immeasurable sadness that we write to let you know of the passing of our beloved, heroic, prophetic leader Rev. Lucius Walker Jr. this morning. We will write with more information as soon as arrangements are made. Please keep his family and his IFCO family in your prayers.

We express our deepest condolences to his family and friends. Lucius Walker, ¡Presente!

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