Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Sympathizers defy ban, load ship with Cuban aid Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 15:07:21 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD Sympathizers defy ban, load ship with Cuban aid \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT TAMPICO, Mexico TAMPICO, Mexico (AP) - Aging hippies, yuppies, Vietnam vets and priests from around the world loaded a Havana-bound ship with 15 tons of wheelchairs, bicycles and Bibles yesterday in defiance of the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. A caravan of 44 trucks and more than 100 people from 25 states and nine countries arrived in this Gulf of Mexico port after crossing the border Friday at Laredo, Texas. The 30-year-old trade embargo was imposed after Fidel Castro took power and prevents most commerce with the communist island by U.S. citizens and corporations. "I've felt for a long time the embargo was not only illegal but immoral, and this was a chance to break it," said David Silk, a businesman from Mystic, Conn. The caravan of humanitarian aid, organized by the Minneapolis-based Pastors for Peace, crossed into Mexico after a scuffle with U.S. Customs officials, who tried to keep the group from crossing because members refused to fill out export licenses. "It was a small sacrifice compared to what Cubans are going through," said Ajumoke Tokunbo, a 29-year-old Oakland, Calif., mail carrier and student. He was arrested in Laredo after refusing to give up a supply of notebooks and pencils. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM