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Don't mess with the Little Yellow School Bus!

Published Jul 26, 2005 8:48 PM

A little yellow school bus sits in the hot summer sun in Hidalgo, Texas, near the border with Mexico. On that bus are computers similar to others confiscated by the Commerce Department from the 16th Friendshipment Caravan organized by Pastors for Peace.


Bus in Sacramento, Calif., July 10

The little yellow school bus is now the focus of an international campaign to force the U.S. government to return the seized electronics and allow all the aid to continue to its rightful destination: the children of Cuba.

The caravan has gathered 140 tons of humanitarian aid, of which 90 percent, along with 130 travel challengers, have successfully passed through the border, arriving in Cuba on July 24. Once again, determined caravanistas defied U.S. government harassment by hand-carrying aid across the border.


Feds seize computers.

An e-mail, phone and media campaign turned back U.S. government threats to tow away the brightly painted school buses. The sides of the buses feature the Cuban Five.

These five Cubans tried to monitor U.S.-based right-wing terrorist attacks against their island nation. As a result, they have been imprisoned in the United States on trumped-up charges.

'Our message is being heard!'


Carrying aid over the border.

Pastors for Peace explained the purpose of the caravans this way: "With your support IFCO has brought broad-based public attention to the mean-spirited blockade against Cuba. Every time the U.S. Treasury Department backs down in the face of our challenge, and allows one of our caravans to cross the border with unlicensed aid for Cuba, we know that our message is being heard at the highest levels in Washington--and that even Washington understands that its blockade of Cuba is indefensible." (www.ifconews.org)

Washington is the only government in the world that restricts travel to and trade with Cuba. Recently tightened Treasury Department rules go so far as to define what constitutes family members for Cuban-Americans and allows visits only once every three years for specified relatives. The restrictions violate both constitutional and human rights.

The caravanistas will return from Cuba through Texas on Aug. 1. On the same day, travel challengers from the Venceremos Brigade, U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange and Women's Challenge will re-enter the United States through the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, N.Y. Supporters will gather there in Front Park at 8:30 a.m.

In 1993, during the Second Friendshipment, a little yellow school bus was seized by Treasury officials. The 13 caravanistas on board refused to leave the bus. They began a hunger strike that lasted 23 days until the bus was released to travel on to Cuba. Support demonstrations, phone calls and faxes forced the U.S. government to give in.

Today, more than ever, support is needed for all the activists who defend our rights by exercising them. The latest information on the caravan can be found at www.pastorsforpeace.org and http://caravan16.blogspot.com/.