MEDIA ADVISORY
August 12, 2009 — for immediate release
Contact: Lucia Bruno (212) 926-5757, (347) 426-4330
Ellen Bernstein (646) 319-5902
ON EVE OF 83RD BIRTHDAY, FIRST PUBLIC PHOTOS OF FIDEL SINCE FEBRUARY 2009
Rev. Lucius Walker, Jr., founder and executive director of IFCO/Pastors for Peace, had the unusual opportunity to have extended meetings with Cuban President Raul Castro Ruz and with ex-President Fidel Castro Ruz. The meetings took place when Rev. Walker was in Cuba recently with the 20th Pastors for Peace Caravan.
Rev. Walker indicated that he came away from these meetings with a renewed sense of the potential that exists for improving US/Cuba relations. "Both leaders made it clear that Cuba is ready for talks covering any and all points of interest to both parties” said Rev. Walker.
The 20th US/Cuba Friendshipment Caravan organized by IFCO/Pastors for Peace returned from Cuba last week. Its 130 participants successfully delivered 132 tons of humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba.
Since 1992, Pastors for Peace caravans have delivered more than 3132 tons of humanitarian aid to Cuba. The aid includes hurricane reconstruction supplies, medical and educational equipment, computers, and school buses. Members of the 20th caravan visited Havana and several rural provinces, where they saw and participated in ongoing efforts to recover from the three hurricanes that hit Cuba in the summer of 2008.
Rev. Walker is available for interviews and appearances on talk shows.
Pastors for Peace is a project of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO), which has been working for racial, social, and economic justice since 1967. Photos, video clips, and more information are available at www.pastorsforpeace.org
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF IFCO/PASTORS FOR PEACE
about me
i've lost faith in the corporate and state media. they claim to be 'balanced' and 'un-biased,' but they're not.
sometimes they lie outright. most of the time they leave a lot of information and context out. they're often earth un-friendly, printing mostly advertising on dead trees. they're funded and motivated by big money, big power, and subsequently we hear what they want us to hear.
i created this blog so i could share my journey with pastors for peace. i've been a social justice and environmental activist for a couple of decades. i'll be up front about it - that's the perspective you'll find here. you don't have to believe any of it if you don't want. go on your own journey, write your own blog. maybe i'll read it.
the first time i participated in the humanitarian aid caravan to cuba was in 2008. i went again in 2009. it's so much fun i'm doing it again in 2012, with the 23rd caravan. it's also a lot of hard work, and expensive, but the cubans are such an inspiration with their free education and health care ... and activists like me feel very welcomed there. if you'd like to share some financial support for the journey, i won't stop you, and i promise i'll spend it responsibly and ethically.
thanks for caring!