“We are being accused of violating certain laws, principally the Trading with the Enemy Act. We defend our vocation and conviction that bringing humanitarian aid to Cuba is within our rights as U.S. citizens, as persons of faith and conscience,” said the young Dominican raised in the States, during a Havana press conference, referring to the donations made by IFCO/Pastors for Peace to the island’s people since 1992.

At the headquarters of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), De los Santos commented that the situation shows how contradictory current U.S. policy toward Cuba is, with repeated statements being made around the world about the normalization of relations, while at the same time persons and organizations which have built bridges between the two peoples are harassed.

He emphasized the impossibility of stopping Pastors for Peace from showing solidarity or making trips to the island, a civil right of all citizens, and mentioned the donations made by persons of goodwill – including medicine, educational materials, and vehicles for churches, schools, and hospitals – which have also served as a symbolic challenge to the criminal economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by Washington for more than half a century.

He explained that the current issue with the IRS began when the organization provided medical support to the Palestinian people in 2009, when they were cruelly subjected to a siege by Israel. At that time, the IRS launched an investigation of the group, threatening to eliminate its tax-exempt status for not requesting permission from the Treasury Department to send humanitarian aid to Cuba. If the threat is carried out, IFCO will be required to pay taxes on every dollar donated to the organization.

IFCO/Pastors for Peace has been attacked since its foundation in 1967, as a non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to showing solidarity not only toward Cuba, but toward other countries struggling for their freedom in Central America, Africa, and Asia, as well as communities within the United States.

“This type of attack hurts us,” De los Santos said, referring to the long battle unfolding within the U.S. judicial system to stop the implementation of the arbitrary measure. He insisted that the organization is willing to go as far as the Supreme Court to seek justice, emphasizing, “We have never been alone, or silenced, we have the support of organizations in Cuba and on several continents; we receive messages from countries around the world.”

Reverend Joel Ortega Dopico, president of the Cuban Council of Churches (CIC), described the threats as unjust and irrational, since diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 2015, and talks are now underway to move toward normalization, which will require that the U.S. abstain from financing subversion in Cuba, and return territory illegally occupied by the Guantánamo Naval Base, where torture in routinely carried out in the prison there.

Reverend Ortega noted that the punitive IRS measure is not directed toward one institution, but rather all persons who have shown how positive relations between peoples can de developed.

Nacyra Gámez, representing the Pastors for Peace Distribution Committee, noted that an exhaustive study of the conflict was needed to challenge the sanctions under consideration, since they would have an impact on many families benefiting from social projects in Cuba.

Yanisca Lugo presented a statement from the Martin Luther King Center in Havana, calling on all religious institutions to denounce the IRS action. “Neither love nor faith can ever pay taxes,” the document states, making an appeal for joint action against the injustice perpetuated by U.S. imperialism against peoples immersed in struggles for their national sovereignty.

In another communiqué, ICAP denounced the attack as representing a threat to friendship between peoples, and called on friends around the world to join in showing solidarity with this sister organization.

The text reads, “We energetically reject this situation which our IFCO brothers and sisters are facing, when they have brought the country donations, medicine, and with the people have defended peace and solidarity as necessary in this world marked by war and social injustices.”

Also speaking out against IRS harassment of IFCO were Juan Manuel Ramos Gómez and Sol Henrik Bockelie, students at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, who participated in a tribute at the Anti-Imperialist Tribunal to the organization’s founder, Lucius Walker, who died September 7, 2010.

The two are among the many low-income students from the United States who have been awarded full scholarships to study medicine in Cuba. Speaking with Granma International, they condemned the attack by U.S. authorities, and expressed their hopes for an agreement to avoid damage to solidarity efforts with needy peoples, be they victims of war or natural disasters.

(Granma)

In the first official act of the brigade, Kenia, who is also a deputy of the National Assembly of People’s Power, urged the youths to continue the fight against the criminal economic, financial and commercial blockade maintained by the U.S. government despite the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, describing the policy as unjust, cruel and genocidal and calling for its complete elimination.

“We know that you are not only excellent brigadistas, but are also training to be good professionals, because to develop our countries we need human beings who offer unconditional support, but especially humanism,” she stated and invited the students to thoroughly research the complex process of the normalization of Cuba-U.S. relations, which also implies the return of the territory illegally occupied by the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo.

Staying at the Julio Antonio Mella International Camp, located in the municipality of Caimito, Artemisa province, August 17-24, the brigadistas undertook volunteer work in agricultural areas, visited centers of historical and cultural interest and received talks on the key documents approved at the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, subject to broad discussion by Cuban society.

Activities were dedicated to the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, in honor of his 90th birthday, August 13. The program included meetings with leaders of Cuban youth organizations, and with Palestinian and Sahrawi students studying on the island, to learn of and strengthen solidarity with the anti-colonial struggles of these two peoples.

Congolese students Joellevic Okombi, Paloma Carmencita Tchimbakala and Mariam Esite, agree that life on the Caribbean island is very different from their African homeland. They noted that studying medicine in Cuba has posed challenges, which they have overcome through perseverance, in the first instance, coupled with the support of their professors and Cuban friends, who have welcomed them as family.

The three highlighted the warmth, open communication and friendliness of the Cuban people toward visitors, regardless of cultural differences. They also described sharing a dorm with students from other countries as a very positive experience, as they could exchange information about their places of origin.

The brigade also offered the opportunity to discuss various topics with students of different nationalities studying at various universities on the island, resulting in a beneficial exchange to unite in the interests of youth struggles across the world.

John Mathiang Chuol, from South Sudan, expressed a similar opinion: “The brigade allows us to meet with compañeros from other medical schools studying in the upper or lower years. It is a meeting point that fosters friendship and knowledge of the various regions of the world. We receive information on Cuban history and reality, which enhances our general knowledge.”

The 24 year old, from the city of Warrap, just completed his second year of study at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM). He noted that he likes the methodology used to teach medicine in Cuba, due to the link between theory and practice in patient care and the guidance provided by professors.

“I have learned in Cuba that we can all be supportive without seeking anything in return,” he stressed, adding, “I do not mean only material aid but the efforts of people to provide company, information and affection. It really angers me that there is an interventionist policy of blockade imposed by the United States. I have suffered from it as I have had serious difficulties in communicating with my family by telephone.”

His friend Toscani Mbainsissem, from Chad, said Cubans ask him about his home country and are interested in learning about the political system, geography, lifestyle, culinary arts, dance and music. He referred to the social inequalities stemming from a capitalist system that can not provide health care coverage for the entire population.

The 23-year-old from the city of Moundou explained that he decided to study to be a doctor as his mother suffers from several illnesses and he wants to be able to help her, as well as any others who could use his knowledge. He hopes to practice cardiology because he is aware of the shortage of professionals in this field in Africa.

The African student spoke of various enriching experiences in the past two years as a student at ELAM, both in the academic sphere and through his participation in cultural galas and sports tournaments, which have fostered a patriotic feeling and an unconditional love for his homeland.

The International Student Solidarity with Cuba Brigade began in 2009, as one of the many initiatives undertaken by the students of other nationalities on the island to join the campaign for the return of the Cuban Five unjustly imprisoned in U.S. jails for fighting terrorism. To date, over 1,000 students from 42 countries across the world have participated as brigadistas from the School of Medical Sciences, and the universities of Havana, Artemisa, Mayabeque and other provinces.

(Granma)

The message, signed by ICAP President Kenia Serrano, was published on the Ministry website.

”It is with great sadness that we have learned of the dramatic news of the devastating earthquake which hit the center of Italy with early estimates predicting at least 120 dead and hundreds of injured,” the message reads.

It also notes that ICAP offers solidarity and support on behalf of the entire Cuban population to all those affected, assured that the Italian people we overcome the difficult times caused by the quake.

According to information provided to Granma by Italy’s Civil Protection Department, the latest death toll stands at over 248 and 400 people have been injured.

(Granma)