The Japanese Peace Cruiser that arrived in Santiago de Cuba province on Thursday, November 15, as part of its traditional world tour to promote solidarity and the cessation of wars, is now sailing towards Venezuela.

This is the second time that the "Peace Boat" has docked in the eastern province and as usual, with more than 1,000 passengers on board. They divided into small groups and were given the opportunity to learn first-hand about the Cuban reality by fulfilling a program in both Santiago and Granma province, also in the east of Cuba.

The Peace Boat departed from Japan on September 23 and up to date, it has touched 11 ports in Asia and Europe. Cuba is the first one in the American continent.

The Peace Boat's first voyage was organized by a group of Japanese university students as a creative response to government censorship regarding Japan's past military aggression in the Asia-Pacific region. They chartered a ship to visit neighboring countries with the aim of learning first-hand about the war from those who experienced it and initiating a people-to-people exchange.

This is Peace Boat's 59th Global Voyage for Peace with 21 stops scheduled at different ports around the world to conclude on January 10, 2008.
(Radio Habana Cuba)