[antiwar-van] "Victory for the Caravan to Cuba!" Statement and Report by Occupy Border groups on the West Coast's Canada/US border challenge

[Tamara Hansen]

Joint Statement and Report by Occupy Border groups:



Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba (VCSC) and the BC Aid Network for Cuba (BCANC)



www.vancubasolidarity.com | www.bcanc.org



July 6, 2012







In
 memory of a true fighter for peace and social justice causes Rev. 
Lucius Walker, the founder of IFCO/Pastors for Peace and the inspirer 
and founder of the Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba







Victory for the Caravan to Cuba!



Victory for the Cuban People!



Victory for Humanity!







U.S.
 and Canadian activists with the Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba, 
organized by IFCO/Pastors for Peace and local groups and individuals, 
joined together to break the U.S. blockade against Cuba – a truck of 
humanitarian aid previously denied and rejected by U.S. customs 
officials is now on its way to Cuba!







U.S. Government Challenges the Caravan to Cuba

This year’s 20th Anniversary Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba has 
begun and is riding on the victory of a successful struggle against the 
U.S. government at the West Coast’s Canada/US border crossing. After 
over 24 hours of continuous protest and resistance by Caravanistas and 
their supporters, without the imposed payment of a bond for any part of 
the humanitarian aid, the previously denied truck full of medical and 
sports equipment destined for Cuba crossed successfully into the U.S. in
 the afternoon of Monday July 2nd. This truck is part of the 23rd 
Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba, which openly challenges the U.S. 
trade and travel blockade that has been imposed on Cuba for over 50 
years.







This important victory for the Caravan was short but 
intense, the culmination of events beginning with the unsuccessful 
attempt to send the humanitarian aid into the U.S. on Sunday July 1st at
 the Peace Arch Border Crossing, the border of Vancouver and Washington 
State. Diverted from this first attempt, protesters followed the truck 
over to the commercial Pacific Highway Truck Crossing, just a few miles 
away, where the second unsuccessful attempt to cross was made later in 
the evening. At this time, Caravanistas were told that the aid would not
 be let through without a bond and that negotiations were closed for the
 night. Caravanistas and Cuba solidarity activists immediately decided 
to occupy the border until their demands for the release of the 
humanitarian aid into the United States were met.







Resist, Organize, Fightback



About
 40 protesters on both sides of the crossing, who originally came 
earlier to the Peace Arch border crossing, started chanting and waving 
Cuban flags. In the meantime, Vancouver activists set up their first 
tent and covered the fence and surroundings with Cuban flags, Free the 
Cuban 5 Heroes picket signs and banners demanding “Lift the Blockade!” 
and “U.S. Hands Off Cuba!” They also put out a big sandwich board saying
 “Honk for Cuba, Let the Aid Through!”







Protesters continued from 
both sides of the border chanting “Let the aid through!”, “Lift the 
blockade on Cuba now!”, and “U.S. Hands Off Cuba!” In order to make sure
 that U.S. border authorities understood that Caravanistas were serious 
about their demands and this would be a long battle, a second tent, 
tables, chairs, sleeping bags, food and a space for the outreach and 
media teams was set up. A generator was started to provide power for the
 various teams of Occupy Border. Next, the line of communication with 
the Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba in New York was established and 
the next line of actions and legal work planned. Continuing into the 
night and onto the next day activists maintained the protest site 
directly in front of the U.S. border with one clear message - we won’t 
go until our demands are met! From just about 1 AM Monday July 2nd until
 dawn, occupiers wrote a press release and statements and called for a 
press conference for the same day to be held directly in front of the 
border crossing, the spot called Occupy Border.







Caravanistas and 
their supporters were left with no choice by U.S. border authorities but
 to resist and challenge this exclusion to whatever stage necessary to 
fight back. It was clear to everyone in Occupy Border that blocking the 
humanitarian aid is, in nature, an act of punishing Cuba and the Pastors
 for Peace Caravan to Cuba. It is also true that holding up the Caravan 
at the border is part of the political, economical and financial 
blockade that the U.S. government has been waging and imposing on Cuba 
for more than 50 years. However, the atmosphere of Occupy Border was 
nothing but to resist injustice. The spirit of struggle was high and 
unbreakable and we declared very clearly - we will fight until we win!







The Battle of Public Opinion and Media



On
 Monday at 12 noon all major media in Canada attended our press 
conference. About 14 radio, TV and newspapers covered all we wanted the 
people of the world to hear - lift the blockade of Cuba, let the aid 
pass through! The presence of full scale media was impressive. It was 
obvious to U.S. border authorities that the case was not local anymore 
and that the pressure would mount more and more every hour on an 
international level. Indeed, in the next 24 hours thousands of pieces of
 news coverage came through mainstream media, the internet and social 
media activists. The world, from Canada to Mexico and Ecuador, to 
Australia and China and Pakistan, and from Iran and Palestine to Turkey 
and Germany and Spain and Tunisia and Britain, saw how the U.S. 
government was so desperately blocking baseball hats and soccer balls to
 protect 50 years of the inhuman and criminal blockade of Cuba. We 
defeated the U.S. government and its blockade in world public opinion 
even before humanitarian aid from the province of British Columbia in 
Canada passed through the border. While organizers and activists were 
trying to expand outreach to the world, the e-mails, calls and text 
messages became an ongoing stream into our phones, computers and 
tablets. From Vancouver, and indeed around the world, friends and 
supporters informed us about the news, and about how they received the 
news through media like radio and TV, as well as social media like 
Facebook, Twitter and also public announcements and statements.





Legal Team Combined with Activism on the Ground: a Powerful Tool



This
 victory over the U.S. blockade of Cuba truly could not have been 
possible without the tremendous work of the IFCO/Pastors for Peace legal
 team with the help and advice of Linda Backiel, attorney for Pastors 
for Peace, and of course the direct intervention, coordination and 
leadership of Gail Walker, Co-director of IFCO/Pastors for Peace.







The
 very effective work of the legal team, combined with two of our 
organizers inside the U.S. Customs building as well as the ongoing 
protest on the both sides of the border crossing and of course a very 
strong presence of media, forced the border authorities to reverse their
 previous decision. At just about 2pm, after 24 hours of a battle of 
ideas, a battle for humanity, the truck full of humanitarian aid for 
Cuba passed the border. Cheers of victory filled the air all over the 
U.S. and Canada border locations. Cheering for victory and chanting 
“U.S. Hands Off Cuba!” with waving Cuban flags and many picket signs for
 the Five Cuban Heroes all on the same line of the border for cars and 
trucks to see, created a space filled with the scent of justice and 
hope. Justice for the Cuban people and hope for releasing our 5 Cuban 
Heroes from U.S. jails and parole.







It is only with fightback that we will win!



Hands Off Cuba!



Venceremos!
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