On Saturday, August 25 at 10AM, members of Let Cuba Live, a Maine-based Cuba solidarity organization, will hold a press conference on the steps of the Old Customs House at 312 Fore Street in the Old Port.
   US Customs seized portions of the group's  humanitarian aid shipments that were bound for Cuba via the Port of Montreal at Coburn Gore on the Maine / Quebec border on July 2 and again on August 18.
   Let Cuba Live members will be prepared to discuss their response to these seizures and plans that are underway for future actions and activities.

For additional information please call:

Midcoast - Steve Burke --------------------------- 273-3247
Down East - Judy Robbins ------------------------ 326-4405
Lewiston / Auburn - Renee Cote ----------------    786-4325
Bath / Brunswick - Barbara West ----------------   443-2899
South Paris - Tom Whitney -----------------------  743-2183
Portland - Todd Ricker -----------------------------874-1987
Old Orchard Beach - Jessica Zambrano ------         934-5941
 

                                news@letcubalive.org    letcubalive.org

    On Friday, August 10 attorneys for Let Cuba Live, Philip Worden from Northeast Harbor and Nancy Chang with the Center for Constitutional Rights, filed a 53 page petition with U.S. Customs. The petition is filed on behalf of thirteen members of Let Cuba Live, a Maine based Cuba solidarity organization who, on July 2, attempted to carry humanitarian aid from the US to Canada for trans shipment to Cuba from the Port of Montreal.

    During an hours-long struggle with U.S. Customs and Immigration officials at the Coburn Gore checkpoint on the Maine/ Canada border, activists managed to walk about 1/3 of their shipment across the border and place it in the care of their Canadian friends. U.S. Customs seized the balance of the shipment which included hospital bed sheets, blankets, adult diapers and patient gowns, as well as a newborn warming and monitoring station and two anesthesia machines, each one capable of fulfilling the anesthesia needs of a small hospital.

    The petition seeks the release of these medical supplies for delivery to Cuba, and states: "the commissioner should return the seized goods because the U.S. embargo against Cuba violates both the U.S. constitution and international law." The petition also includes an exhibit of statements expressing religious, political, moral, and humanitarian positions held by the members of Let Cuba Live.

    Let Cuba Live and their supporters will take another aid shipment to the border on Saturday, August18 and remain resolute in their determination to deliver humanitarian aid to CUBA without applying for a license.
"We won't apply for a license and we would in fact refuse to accept one if it were offered," said Judy Robbins a member of the group from  Sedgwick, "we do not want to be complicit with a law that seeks to withhold food and medicine from our neighbors."

    On Saturday August 18 at 12 noon, Let Cuba Live along with U.S. and Canadian supporters will once again attempt to cross the US / Canada border at Coburn Gore with a shipment of humanitarian aid that will be bound for Cuba via the Port of Montreal.

    The caravan of aid-bearing trucks and cars carrying supporters from New York and the New England states will assemble at a hospitality house in the Farmington area on Saturday morning for the drive to the border.
 

For additional information please call these Maine numbers area code (207)

Midcoast - Steve Burke --------------------------- 273-3247
Down East - Judy Robbins ------------------------ 326-4405
Lewiston / Auburn - Renee Cote ---------------- 786-4325
Bath / Brunswick - Barbara West ---------------- 443-2899
South Paris - Tom Whitney ----------------------- 743-2183
Portland - Todd Ricker ----------------------------- 874-1987
Old Orchard Beach - Jessica Zambrano ------ 934-5941
In N.Y. call IFCO/Pastors for Peace----------- --212-926-5757

Medical aid donations for the August 18 caravan

• Join the caravan to Montreal, departing from Augusta on Saturday, August 18
• Bear witness at the Coburn Gore, Maine/Woburn, Quebec international border crossing
• Participate in a support rally at Coburn Gore with signs and songs
• Provide additional medical donations collected in your community
• Stand with Let Cuba Live, IFCO/Pastors for Peace, Caravane d'Amitie Quebec-Cuba, and l'Association Quebecoise des Amis de Cuba as they attempt once again to challenge the immoral U.S. blockade against the people of Cuba
• Supporters from around the U.S. and Canada will be with us on this caravan

call:           Steve Burke 207-273-3247
                    Renee Cote 207-786-4325

Judy Robbins 207-326-4405
Tom Whitney 207-743-2183