A message of solidarity and support to Cuba

By María Josefina Arce

Threats, pressures and fines have not been able to prevent that year after year since 1992 a message of support and solidarity arrives to our country by the hand of the Caravans of Pastors for Peace, to which the American Reverend Lucius Walker, who died in 2010, gave life.

Defying the framework of laws that make up the genocidal blockade imposed by the United States for 60 years, this Pastors for Peace project is with us again, in its thirty-second edition.

On this occasion most of the caravanists are young people between 18 and 30 years of age who have never been on Cuban soil, as the organizers affirm that they are looking for new generations of friends of Cuba.

As usual before arriving in our country, they toured several U.S. cities to collect humanitarian aid, including donations and funds for the purchase of medicines for the Cuban people.

During the tour, they also made known the truth about Cuba, so often manipulated by the press, and about the effects on important areas such as health and education caused by the U.S. economic siege, intensified by the administration of the now former President Donald Trump in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Pastors for Peace has had to overcome many obstacles since the first edition of the caravan that brought to the archipelago 15 tons of items such as powdered milk, medicines, bicycles and school supplies.

To prevent the arrival of the donations to the Caribbean nation, the United States withheld the shipments. Some may remember that in 1993 a school bus was seized at the border crossing from Laredo, Texas, to Mexico. The 13 activists on board went on hunger strike for 23 days and decided to stay until the bus was returned.

Three years later, a similar situation occurred. Once again the demonstrations of support for the Caravanistas inside and outside the United States forced Washington to return the equipment destined for the health system.

Now, as in previous years, the participants in this solidarity project will share with the Cubans in various activities, including their support for productive work.

For three decades Cuba has had a true brother in Pastors for Peace. Support and a message of love and fraternity have brought every year, a sign that we are not alone, and that in the United States there are many who extend their hand of solidarity to us.