The Venceremos Brigade Travel Challenge to Cuba In a few days we will travel with the Venceremos Brigade to Cuba. The Venceremos ("We Shall Overcome") Brigade is an educational work project which began in 1969 and has traveled to Cuba every year since then. For two weeks we will work side by side with Cuban workers to renovate a health center. During this time we will also find out as much as we can about life in Cuba by meeting and exchanging with civic leaders and ordinary people. Last year, people on the Brigade celebrated July 4th in Havana with some of Cuba's top cultural performers. This year we will celebrate Cuba's national holiday on July 26th in Santiago. Cuba is not our enemy and we hope to develop friendships with as many Cuban people as we can during our stay. We are young and older; African-American, Latino, Asian and white; gay and straight; students from high schools and colleges; and workers and professional people from all across our country. We have many political points of view, but we are united in opposing the travel ban and the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba. We have not asked for a U.S. Treasury Department license and we will not do so. We believe it is our constitutional right to travel to Cuba to view the country, its people, its successes and its challenges with our own eyes. We believe that current U.S. policy towards Cuba is deceitful, misguided and harmful to the interests of our people and the Cuban people. On August 4th at 8:30AM we will cross the International Peace Bridge into Buffalo, New York, proudly proclaiming our return. We ask for your support: 1- MEET US IN FORT ERIE, CANADA ON AUGUST 4th at 8:30AM! If you have traveled to Cuba before - licensed or unlicensed - and/or want to protest these restrictions, meet us on the Canadian side of the International Peace Bridge in Fort Erie on Monday morning August 4th at 8:30AM to join our march across the bridge to US Customs and Immigrations in Buffalo. Customs and Immigrations has been regularly harassing people who have traveled to Cuba - licensed or unlicensed - whenever they travel abroad. In addition, the enforcement division of the Office of Foreign Assets Control has now begun to challenge and threaten individuals and groups which have traveled under licenses. We must all join together to fight for an end to these restrictions! 2 - MEET US IN BUFFALO ON AUGUST 4th at 8:30AM! Meet and greet us on the Buffalo side of the International Peace Bridge on Monday morning August 4th at 8:30AM after we have gone through Customs and Immigrations where we will rally and hold a press conference. 3 - SUPPORT AN END TO THE TRAVEL BAN! Call your House Representative and your Senators and urge her or him to support the following bills which end the travel restrictions: HR 2071 in the House and S 950 in the Senate. For more information, contact the Venceremos Brigade at vbrigade@aol.com or 212-560-4360. END THE TRAVEL BAN! END THE ECONOMIC BLOCKADE!