NEWS Battling the US Blockade on Cuba Pastors for Peace coordinator visits Vancouver Nicole Burton, News Editor Two weeks ago, Pastors for Peace Coordinator, John Waller, traveled on a successful speaking tour across cam- puses in the Lower Mainland to challenge one of the US government’s longest legacies of foreign aggression: the US-imposed blockade on Cuba, a Caribbean island of over 11-million people and only 90 miles off of the US coast. Waller spoke at forums organized by student groups and student unions at UBC, Capilano College, and Langara College, before culminating with an event at the Unitarian Church on February 18, co-organized by Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba (VCSC) and the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church. News editor Nicole Burton had the opportunity to meet with Waller and discuss his speaking tour, his organi- zation, Pastors for Peace, and the ongoing challenge to lift the blockade. Other Press (OP): From your perspective, what is the US Blockade on Cuba and how does it affect the lives of the Cuban people? John Waller (JW): Well first, we call it a blockade (as opposed to a trade embargo) because it’s an attempt by the US to stop economic relations between any other country and Cuba. It tries to impose its laws on other countries, and at its heart, it’s an attempt to starve the Cuban people by trying to deny them the ability to get food or medicines from elsewhere, in an attempt to make them suffer so much that the US will have its dream [come true] of Cubans revolting against the Cuban government. In terms of international trade, it’s only been partially successful; Cuba can still often buy many things from around the world, but there are still certain things like medicines made only by US pharmaceutical [companies], that you can’t buy legally from anywhere in the world. OP: How did Pastors for Peace come about? JW: Philosophically, we’re rooted in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. and the US Civil Rights Movement and use of non-violence and civil disobedience to chal- lenge unjust laws. Our parent organization, the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organizing (IFCO) was founded in 1967. Pastors for Peace, a more famous project in IFCO, came about in 1988. In 1992, churches in Cuba who were in support of the Cuban revo- lution, approached us and asked if we would start sending caravans of aid. OP: What role does Pastors for Peace play in support- ing Cuba against the US Blockade? JW: Our caravans to Cuba take a certain amount of humanitarian aid—about 60 to 80 tons of aid each year. The real point of Pastors for Peace is that we are changing US policy on Cuba. We’re taking aid—and people—with- out US government permission. That’s illegal under US law. Every time we cross the border we’re saying to them, “We’ve broken your law—what are you going to do about it?” If they let us go, we say that, in a small way, we’ve put a dent in the blockade, and if the [US government] tries to create problems, then we get all the publicity we can, and that also undermines their policy. OP: From your speaking tour in Vancouver last week, what do you see to be some of the main issues raised around Cuba by people? JW: Partly people wanted me to explain more in detail about how the US blockade on Cuba works. One example from Canada is how a Canadian company was selling water purification tablets to Cuba; that Canadian company was several stages removed from a US subsidiary; and although they didn’t realize it, they were actually breaking US law. So when a businessman from that company went to head office to work in the US, he was arrested! People are look- ing for examples like this of how the blockade really works. OP: How can students and young people contribute in the fight to lift the blockade on Cuba? JW: Going to Cuba, either as a tourist, on a work brigade, or on our caravan, supports Cuba economically, so every single person that goes is a little dent in that blockade. Specifically about Pastors for Peace, we want to have Canadians coming and supporting us on the caravan— although it’s primarily about US citizens, we will have peo- ple participating from Europe and Canada. If we speak to US audiences, we can show that even the US’s traditional allies—like Canada and countries in Europe—do not sup- port this blockade. Several hundred thousand Canadians go to Cuba every year freely, so why can’t US citizens go? It’s also important to have international observers there for when we cross the US border from Texas into Mexico. OP: How can students join the Pastors for Peace friendship caravan to Cuba? JW: We welcome anybody who’s in support of what we’re trying to do, and can afford to come with us (this means paying the participants’ fee, or finding people and organi- zations who are willing to sponsor them so they can par- ticipate!) I’m one of the contacts for the caravan, so they can contact me. Also, if people are coming from the Vancouver area, they can contact Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba (VCSC), who we’re working with here. Apart from the people who go on the caravan, we want a lot of people to come to our border crossing at the US-Canadian border on Sunday, June 18. Because we will be taking aid from Canada through the US to Cuba, there’s always the potential that US customs will try to deny us entry, and we want to have a lot of people there to show them that we can do it. If you want to get on the Caravan or get more information about the Pastors for Peace, contact John at wnmw.ifconews.org, by e-mail: cucar- avan@igc.org, by phone: 1.416.880.8377. You can also contact Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba at cubacommuni- ties@yahoo.ca, or by phone: 778.882.5223. VCSC also has a website with more information at www.vancubasolidarity.com.