July 19, 2011 6:08 PM. Martha L. Hernández. The Monitor. McALLEN — Pastors for Peace has trekked to Cuba in defiance of the U.S. trade embargo for 21 years. But the 22nd will be the group’s first caravan there since the founder, Lucius Walker, died Sept. 7.One hundred people, mostly from the United States and a few from Canada, will travel into Mexico on Wednesday, passing through Reynosa en route to the Gulf Coast city of Tampico, Tamps. There, they will ship 100 tons of materials, including seven buses, to Cuba.">July 19, 2011 6:08 PM. Martha L. Hernández. The Monitor. McALLEN — Pastors for Peace has trekked to Cuba in defiance of the U.S. trade embargo for 21 years. But the 22nd will be the group’s first caravan there since the founder, Lucius Walker, died Sept. 7.One hundred people, mostly from the United States and a few from Canada, will travel into Mexico on Wednesday, passing through Reynosa en route to the Gulf Coast city of Tampico, Tamps. There, they will ship 100 tons of materials, including seven buses, to Cuba.">

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Faith & Defiance: Caravan heads to Mexico to ship aid to Cuba

  • Submitted by: manso
  • 07 / 20 / 2011

July 19, 2011 6:08 PM. Martha L. Hernández. The Monitor. McALLEN — Pastors for Peace has trekked to Cuba in defiance of the U.S. trade embargo for 21 years.

But the 22nd will be the group’s first caravan there since the founder, Lucius Walker, died Sept. 7.

One hundred people, mostly from the United States and a few from Canada, will travel into Mexico on Wednesday, passing through Reynosa en route to the Gulf Coast city of Tampico, Tamps. There, they will ship 100 tons of materials, including seven buses, to Cuba.

The group made arrangements with Mexican authorities to travel through the dangerous roads of the state of Tamaulipas, according to a travel alert from the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros.

“We look at what is having a success for crossing; we don’t believe we will have any problems,” said the Rev. Tom Smith, co-director for Pastors for Peace.

They also made arrangements with Mexican customs and immigration authorities to ease their passage. Last year, the group was delayed because they needed to process all the travelers who did not have a permit to travel into Mexico.

The group is not afraid of traveling through San Fernando, the area some 80 miles south of Brownsville where 190 bodies were found in clandestine graves earlier this year.

Mexican federal police work with the group as an escort.

More than the dangers cartels might pose, participants are concerned about the impact of the U.S. embargo on Cubans, said Esperanza Martell, a member of the caravan.

None of the participants has been fined for traveling to Cuba, although the U.S. government has threatened to crack down, they said.

“We haven’t experienced any trouble. It’s the intimidation that unfortunately our government continuously (holds) over our head, threatening to charge us with a fine for traveling into Cuba because we never apply for (a) license.

“We believe that love is our license. As a faith organization, we believe we have a constitutional right to minister to others, and the government cannot tell us who to minister to, so that is why we continue to go,” Smith said.

“We (have) made 21 successful challenges to the (U.S. foreign) policy,” Smith said. “We expect to be successful once again.”

Martha L. Hernández covers health, business and general assignments for The Monitor and El Nuevo Heraldo. She can be reached at (956) 683-4846.

Source: /www.themonitor.com/news/faith-52971--.html

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