Contributed by RedNickD

US Customs officials in Texas confiscated five computers that were going to Cuba. The computers were donated by residents of Vancouver as part of the 21st Century Cuba-United States Friendship Caravan.

“I think this is just a harassment and intimidation tactic,” said Janine Solanki, a member of Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba.

Solanki, who is traveling to Cuba with the caravan, said that the US officials said the computers were taken because they could possibly be used for military purposes in Cuba.

“These computers are Pentium 4s that are five-year-old used computers, so it’s a bit of a ridiculous charge,” said Solanki.

“And so this is something we have seen in past years,” said Solanki. “In 1996, they confiscated 400 computers and we actually had a 94-day hunger strike until they were released after getting international pressure on them.”

The Friendship Caravan, sponsored by Pastors for Peace, is an aid caravan that collects and delivers tools, construction supplies, medical equipment, educational materials, and more to Cuba. It also aims to raise awareness about what is really going on in Cuba and the unjustified US harassment of the island.

While the American and European mouthpieces in the media maintain that Cubans aren’t allowed to have computers and access the internet, this recent development, and the 1996 incident, proves that the US is preventing Cubans from using the internet and computer technology as part of the economic embargo and its sadistic plan for toppling the Communist government. The US itself continues to block Cuban access to fiber-optic tubes that would allow the island’s inhabitants internet access.