Canadians Take Part in Annual Caravan to Overcome U.S. Unjust Blockade of Cuba

Ottawa, May 10, 2019

Canadians and Quebeckers from all walks of life treasure the longstanding and warm relations with the Cuban people. Within this situation, the Cuba solidarity movement plays a vital role to deepen these relations in practical ways. This includes public events with Cuban speakers and other experts to elaborate Cuba's revolutionary nation-building project and how it permits the flourishing of the human person, its profound internationalism and social love for the peoples of the world that always upholds the rule of law and the cause of peace in international relations. One of the most important aspects of the solidarity with Cuba at this time is to make sure that Cuba cannot be isolated by the stepped-up U.S. campaign against Cuba, first and foremost the U.S. illegal blockade intended to overthrow the Cuban Revolution.

One of the practical projects taken up by the solidarity movement in Canada to overcome the blockade is participation in the Peace Caravan, an annual tour led by the U.S. organization Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO)/Pastors for Peace. Every year for the past 30 years, it has travelled through Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, to inform people about Cuba and collect important humanitarian goods to send to Cuba, in defiance of the blockade.

Events for the Canadian leg of this year's Peace Caravan received Reverend Luis Barrios of Pastors for Peace. The first event was held in Montreal on May 9 at the Centre Patro Le Prevost, hosted by the Quebec-Cuba Friendship Caravan.

The Peace Caravan then stopped in Ottawa on May 10 at St. Giles Presbyterian Church. The event was hosted by Ottawa Cuba Connections, ALBA Social Movements-Ottawa, Frente Bolivariano Hugo Chavez, Association d'amitie Outaouais-Cuba and the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of the Quakers. Notably, Ottawa Cuba Connections has the distinction of taking part in the caravans since they began 30 years ago, and is sending a participant to this year's edition as well.

These were followed by an event in Kingston on May 11 at Sydenham Street United Church and Toronto on May 12 at San Lorenzo Anglican Church.

At these events, Rev. Barrios reaffirmed the solidarity movement's commitment to the fight against the blockade despite the enormous hurdles imposed by the U.S. administration. He explained how the Trump administration's implementation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act is not just an attack on the Cuban people but also on the sovereignty of many other countries, including Canada, as well as an attack on the business interests of companies throughout the world, including in Canada. He went on to elaborate that this is part of a more profound U.S. agenda to recolonize Latin America and the Caribbean. For example, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton has explicitly talked about the U.S. taking control of Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

Cuban Ambassador Josefina Vidal also spoke at the Ottawa event. She thanked Pastors for Peace for their support to and solidarity with the Cuban people throughout all these years, and underscored that Cubans will never forget the images transmitted worldwide of Pastors for Peace, led by Lucius Walker, confronting the heavily armed authorities on the United States-Mexico border. Likewise, on behalf of the Cuban people, the Cuban diplomat also thanked the Canadian solidarity movement for always standing by Cuba.

John Waller, Program Coordinator for Pastors for Peace, explained to TML Weekly that "the hostility of the U.S. government toward Cuba has always created a myriad of logistical challenges for our project. This was most extreme under the Bush administration when our caravanistas were being threatened with legal harassment and fines. Those particular actions stopped under Obama and so far haven't resumed under Trump, but we have to prepare in case they do this year."

Waller went on to explain, "The U.S. caravan is just about to happen. It begins on June 8 with public events in 40 U.S. cities. We are taking 37 people to Cuba without a U.S. government licence, many of them travelling to Cuba for the first time. Almost half are young people under 30. The caravanistas are principally U.S. citizens, especially from Seattle, New York, Minneapolis and Fresno but we also have international representation from Canada, Mexico and Germany.

"The Canadian events in early May received a very warm response from those who attended. We anticipate that in the U.S. people who come to our Caravan events will be outraged by what Trump is doing, after a period in the latter years of the Obama presidency where limited but significant steps had been taken in the direction of normalizing relations between the U.S. and Cuba."

The Peace Caravan will then go to Mexico, where the program includes an orientation for participants in Mexico City, June 22-23, before they travel to Cuba. The caravan concludes on July 5, with participants returning home via Mexico City.

(Photos: TML, OCC, Cuban Embassy)

This article was published in

Volume 49 Number 20 - June 1, 2019

Article Link:
Canadians Take Part in Annual Caravan to Overcome U.S. Unjust Blockade of Cuba

    

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