Pastors in second attempt to deliver aid to Cuba

SAN DIEGO — On February 17, the INFOMED Friendshipment Caravan, coordinated by IFCO (Interreligious Foundation of Community Organization) and Pastors for Peace, will again try to bring medical aid including computers into Mexico for their shipment to Cuba. The ecumenical group's previous shipment of 325 computers was seized by the US Customs Service on January 31. "The US is spending tens of thousands of dollars to stop humanitarian aid from reaching Cuba", said Tom Hansen, noting that more than 100 law enforcement officers and 17 privately owned tow trucks were deployed on the 31st. Hansen and hundreds of volunteers plan to attempt a second crossing. On February 7 the organisation was issued a subpoena to appear before a grand jury for previous humanitarian aid shipments to Cuba. The group has mounted a concerted effort to collect medical aid throughout the western United States and Canada. Volunteers from more than 20 cities plan to join the effort to deliver aid to Cuba. "Pastors, teachers and health care providers have been calling us with support", said the Reverend Lucius Walker, the executive director of Pastors for Peace. "Together we're joining the rest of the world in a show of unified opposition to an unjust policy." Computers seized by Customs were to provide terminals in hospitals and clinics in Cuba. The medical centres are to be linked to an on-line medical information system put in place with funding and assistance from the UN Special Projects and the Pan American Health Organisation. The network, called INFOMED, needs 800 terminals to be fully operational.