Aid Trucks Blocked

Last month the Orange County Friends of Nicaraguan Children received $5,300 in contributions from county residents for the nationwide humanitarian project of the Veterans Peace Convoy, to take food, clothing, and medical equipment to Nicaragua for war orphans and children displaced by the war. The trucks the veterans were driving were to be left in Nicaragua to transport the aid material to the children.

When the convoy reached the U.S.-Mexican border, it was stopped by U.S. Customs officials, who refused to allow it to proceed on its way to Nicaragua, claiming that the gift of trucks would violate the U.S. embargo on trade with Nicaragua. The trucks were an essential part of our gift, because they are needed to transport the food, clothing, and medical equipment to the children. There is an extreme shortage of trucks, buses and vehicles for such purposes.

Children are innocent victims of war. The Veterans Peace Convoy was part of a larger effort by many humanitarian organizations in the United States to try to prevent the children in Nicaragua from going hungry next year.

It is time to end the embargo and the economic warfare against the people and children of Nicaragua. The United States stands alone in its embargo against Nicaragua. The people of Orange County should let their congressional representatives know that they support the bills that were introduced in April and May of this year to end the embargo.

SHIRLEY CERESETO,

Co-chair

Orange County Friends

of Nicaraguan Children