Vol. 72/No. 42      October 27, 2008

For nearly two decades Pastors for Peace has organized “Friendshipment Caravans” to take humanitarian supplies to Cuba and to oppose Washington’s ban on travel to the island.

On September 23, some 30 people came to support Walker at a New York County Supreme Court hearing on a pending motion to hold him in contempt of court for refusing to provide all the information requested by the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District, Richard Condon.

Condon has been seeking records on permission slips, itineraries, and travel payments by students and school employees in relation to four trips to Cuba by students and teachers from the Beacon School since 1999. He alleges that the trips are in violation of federal law and that Walker and IFCO were “involved in arranging some of the trips,” including the most recent one during spring break in 2007.

On January 22 Judge Judith Gische ordered Walker and IFCO to comply with a subpoena from Condon to testify about the trips. Subsequently Walker was interrogated by attorneys for the school district, but refused to testify about many of the individuals the school district claims were involved in the trips.

The investigation “is about trying to undercut and intimidate a movement,” Walker told the Militant, referring to those who defend the right for people in this country to travel to Cuba. “Defending this is important, and that’s what we’re trying to do with this case.”

Linda Backiel who, along with Palyn Hung of the New York Civil Liberties Union, represents IFCO and Walker, noted that the judge commented on the number of people present at the hearing. Walker’s defense case “is much bigger than just Lucius and IFCO,” she said. “It has repercussions for everyone.”

Some of the students from Beacon School on Manhattan’s Upper West Side who participated in the latest trip were present at the hearing to support Walker. One student, who asked not to be named, told the Militant that he opposes the travel ban. “They [the U.S. government] don’t want us to know about Cuba,” he said. “They want us to believe what we’re told in the textbooks. I think we should be able to see for ourselves what Cuba is like.” The school has previously organized student trips to France, Spain, South Africa, Venezuela, and Mexico, reported the New York Post.

Walker’s supporters explain that the school district should have no jurisdiction in the case because the trip was not organized by the school and took place during spring break. Teachers at Beacon were told by the city’s Education Department that the school could not sponsor any trips to Cuba. While one teacher accompanied the students last year, the school faculty and administration as a whole did not back the trip, school officials said.

Washington has maintained the travel ban and a harsh economic embargo against Cuba for decades. U.S. residents are forced to obtain a permit from the Treasury Department, which is rarely granted, before traveling to the island. Cuban Americans with family members there are permitted to go once every three years.  
 
 
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