They arrived in Cuba Pastors for Peace

The Caravan of Representatives of the Pastors for Peace, U.S., arrived in Havana on Saturday after Washington circumvent obstacles in its efforts to prevent their arrival at the island. Caridad Diego Bello, head of the Office of Religious Affairs of the Central Committee of Communist Party of Cuba, directors of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples and religious leaders of the largest of the West Indies went to José Martí International Airport to welcome the group . The Reverend Lucius Walker leads the representation, which brings a new solidarity aid to Cuba, despite the obstacles they faced when crossing into Mexican territory by the border Pharr bridge, adjacent to Reynosa. At that point customs of the city state of Tamaulipas, bordering Texas, U.S. agents seized 35 computers, which were part of some 100 tons of cargo, including several vehicles. The members of the nineteenth Friendship Caravan of US-Cuba, in protest, took early passage of a rail car for half an hour in one's own customs control of Pharr, until authorized their entry to Mexico. After they moved to neighbouring port of Tampico to board the humanitarian contribution toward Cuba and, like every year, attended an act of solidarity with the island, in the Plaza de la Libertad of that Mexican city. One hundred members of the movement of friendship with Cuba on Saturday travelled by air to Havana to deliver their donation. The delegation of Pastors for Peace is composed of activists Americans, Canadians, Europeans and Mexicans, and every year challenges the blockade of the U.S. Government against Cuba, including trade and travel of Americans to most of the West Indies. In their journeys by American and Canadian cities, religious collected 100 tons of articles, including medical equipment, for education, art and sport, which means will be allocated to the Cuban people. The contribution also includes several buses, five of which carry the names of Gerardo Hernandez, Fernando Gonzalez, Ramon Labañino, Rene Gonzalez and Antonio Guerrero, unjustly imprisoned in U.S. to combat terrorism. The Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization Pastors for Peace has more than 40 years working for social justice, and since 1992, without asking for leave to U.S. Treasury Department, collects its humanitarian cargo in support of the Cuban nation.

Message from the Cuban Five to the US Social Forum

Gerardo Hernandez sent a message on behalf of the Cuban Five to participants and organizers of the United States Social Forum which closed in Atlanta on Sunday: "Your cause is our cause and we know that with people like you, the future will be one of justice and peace. A better world is possible! Venceremos!"
Dear participants and organizers of the Atlanta Social Forum,
Please receive a warm greeting from Five Cubans who are serving long and injustice sentences in US prisons for defending our country against terrorism.
Many of you are coming to Atlanta from all over the country and from abroad to share your experiences and to seek a more just world.
From inside the prisons, we have been following the just struggles that all of you are involved in, from immigrant rights, to women’s equality, to working towards a safe environment, to the struggle against racism and discrimination, and to end the war and occupation of Iraq and elsewhere. You can be sure that all of your efforts only make our admiration for you grow.
Since 1998 we have been hostages of the failed US policy toward our country, Cuba. When we were arrested, no guns or explosives were found in our apartments, we never hurt anyone; yet, we have been sentenced collectively to four live sentences plus 75 years. Cuba like any other people of the world has the right to defend itself against terrorism. And that is exactly what we were doing. We were monitoring terrorist organizations based in Miami to prevent more violent actions against our homeland. Since 1959, almost 3,500 Cubans have been killed and many more have been disabled.
While the world has been pushed towards a so-called "war on terror", just last month, a notorious terrorist of Cuban origin, Luis Posada Carriles was freed. Another one, Orlando Bosch, his partner in crime is walking free in the streets of Miami. These two dangerous terrorists were the masterminds in the blowing up of a Cuban plane in 1976. Seventy-three innocent people were killed. The fact that crimes like that still lingers with no justice is a sign that we still have a long struggle in the world we live in.
Dear compañeras and compañeros, we wish you a great success in the Atlanta Social Forum. Your cause is our cause and we know that with people like you, the future will be one of justice and peace
A better world is possible!
Venceremos!
Rene Gonzalez, Antonio GuerreroRamon LabañinoFernando GonzalezGerardo Hernandez
June, 27, 2007