The US religious organization Pastors for Peace will again challenge the regulations of the US economic blockade of Cuba as they are already preparing their 20th caravan to the Caribbean nation that will begin on July 3rd in Canada.

The caravan will visit 140 cities in Canada and the United States collecting humanitarian aid for the Cuban people and giving information about Washington’s almost 50-year-old economic, financial and trade blockade of Cuba.

Afterwards, they will head to Cuba, where they will stay for nine days participating in cultural and educational activities.

The announcement of the upcoming Friendshipment Caravan was made in the Canadian city of Vancouver by groups in solidarity with Cuba. A communiqué spread through the Internet explains that, every year, more than 100 people join Pastors for Peace (www.pastorsforpeace.org) to help the Cuban people in their struggle against the US blockade.

These groups in solidarity with Cuba organized a cultural event last May 17th with pictures of previous caravans and screened the documentary of Pastors for Peace ‘Who’s Afraid of the Small Yellow Bus?’. The slogan of the event was “Join the Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba 2009.”

Pastors for Peace is a member of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) and it has provided humanitarian aid to Cuba, including school material, computers and school buses, in spite of pressure measures by US authorities in the US-Mexico border, from where he caravan members travel to Havana.

Rev. Lucius Walker, who heads Pastors for Peace, has continuously condemned Washington’s nearly 50-year-old blockade of Cuba.