February 8, 2014: IFCO/ Pastors for Peace Friendshipment 25 Announcement

IFCO/Pastors for Peace has just announced the 25th Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba. The caravan will publicly challenge the 52-year U.S. Government blockade of Cuba and carry material aid to the revolutionary island nation.

Friendshipment Caravan 25

IFCO has posted a video about the upcoming caravan here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ldogNOktsM&feature=share
This coming July, the Seattle-Cuba Friendship Committee will welcome the Friendshipment Caravan to Seattle. Please join us!
For more information, please contact Seattle Committee Secretary Judy Zeh.

April 18, 2014: April Update

Planning is in high gear for the IFCO/Pastors for Peace 25th Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba. This is a great opportunity to join us on a blockade-challenging trip to Cuba! The caravan will publicly challenge the 52-year U.S. Government blockade and carry material aid to the revolutionary island nation.

Friendshipment Caravan 25

For an application to go on the caravan, please contact IFCO/Pastors for Peace directly: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For more information, contact Seattle Committee Secretary Judy Zeh atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

May 7, 2014: CUBA UNDER SIEGE: American policy, the Revolution and its People

Meet author Keith Bolender and learn how US policies have affected politics, economics, culture, and nearly all aspects of everyday life in Cuba.
Where: Capitol Hill Branch, Seattle Public Library
425 Harvard Ave E, Seattle; phone 206-684-4715
When: 6:15 to 7:45 pm, Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Keith Bolender is a freelance journalist living in Toronto and a lecturer at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Education. He has written extensively on Cuban matters for a variety of North American publications. He is the author of Voices from the other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba. He is also a member of the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA), where he is on their roster of experts for Cuban Affairs.
Sponsored by the Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee.

 

Cuba Under Siege book

Upcoming Seattle-Area Events

The Pastors for Peace Friendshipment 25 is coming to Seattle. We have three events planned:
Here's our poster about the Seattle events, with caravan dates. Click the image to download a full-size PDF poster.

Friendshipment 25 Seattle events

 

June 28, 2014: Material aid packing party

12-2pm at El Centro de la Raza, basement
2524 16th Ave. South (Beacon Hill), Seattle

July 6, 2014: Border Crossing Event

On Sunday July 6 join us for a potluck picnic and rally at Peace Arch Park at the Canada/US border.

Friendshipment 25 Border Crossing

 

At the Peace Arch Park, Blaine we welcomed the Canadian Caravanistas into the United Sates and had a picnic and rally. We then loaded their donations onto the school bus and drove to Seattle.

 

July 8, 2014: Bus photos

Cliff Wells rode the BlueGreen Machine schoolbus up to the Blaine Border crossing event yesterday and posted photos. See them here:
Break the Cuba Blockade
We will post a fuller account of the Border Event, and of the upcoming Friendshipment Send-off, later.

July 8, 2014: Seattle Caravan Send Off Potluck

On July 8, the Seattle-Cuba Friendship Committee held a Send Off Event for the 25th Annual Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba. The event was held at El Centro de la Raza on Beacon Hill. Kudos to all who helped organize the event.
Potluck with musical entertainment by Sin Fronteras, Seattle Peace Chorus, and Jacque Larrainzar; "local spoken word"; and a presentation about the Friendshipment caravan 6-8 pm
El Centro de la Raza, Dining Room (Room 107)
2524 16th Ave. South (Beacon Hill), Seattle
Price: Free, no tickets required. Guests are welcome to bring something for the potluck.

poster

July 8 Send Off Photos

Seattle Peace Chorus. The heart on the Cuban flag behind them represented the importance of love in the world, as amply practiced by Cuba and Cubanos.

event

Hap Bockelie MC'd the event.

event

Jacque Larrainzar sang.

event

Michael Hureaux recited poetry.

event

 

July 22, 2014: Blockade Broken!

IFCO/Pastors for Peace reported:
"Today, IFCO/Pastors for Peace with the help of a whole community of supporters brought 100 tons of aid including 2 school buses, 2 trucks and a van for Cuban hospitals, schools and Centers.
Today we crossed the border into Mexico and on to Cuba, all without a license from the US Government, as an act of loving, non-violent civil disobedience.
LOVE IS OUR LICENSE."

IFCO border crossing

 

* In a somewhat unexplainable and illogical action, the US Customs officials allowed almost all the donated aid to pass through unmolested. But they confiscated six three-year-old desktop computers, donated by a group in Arizona. Other computers passed without problem. We will continue to negotiate for these six computers -- but will not allow this to delay the delivery of the rest of the humanitarian aid.
Keep checking our Facebook page for the latest news and photos of the stops along the way:
www.facebook.com/pastorsforpeace
While we were in McAllen Texas, we were part of a Rally and Healing Service for the Immigration Crisis, and the detention of refugee children. The Rally was sponsored by the South Texas Human Rights Center and LUPE (Union del Pueblo Entero). Caravanistas received a briefing on the situation and started to plan ways that they -- and you -- can help the local groups that are responding to this crisis.
Stay in touch -- we'll be sharing the plans with you soon and letting you know how you can help these children find safety and justice.
We also held a news conference, to brief the media (local, national and international) about the caravan."

 

August 4, 2014: Back home from Cuba.

Today, IFCO/Pastors for Peace reported:
The Blockade is Broken!
Back home from Cuba
The 25th US-Cuba Friendshipment Caravan has returned across the border into Texas safely and without incident.
Today we crossed the border from Mexico after traveling to Cuba without a license from the US Government, as an act of loving, non-violent civil disobedience.
LOVE IS OUR LICENSE
Keep checking our Facebook page; we have lots of photos of the trip, and we're anxious to share them with you.

 

For more information contact Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.